Fractured Mind
by anonymityofaturtle
Summary: Post-Avengers (2012): Instead of being taken to Asgard with Thor, Loki gets sucked into the portal with the Chitauri. Three years later, Loki is found half-dead by the Avengers. Can the team put aside their differences to help an old foe? (More Details Inside)
1. Your New Eternal Home

Fractured Mind

Cautionary Warnings: Rated M for Mature due to sexual and psychological abuse, graphic violence, strong triggers, language, and disturbing content.

Chapter One (Prelude): Your New Eternal Home

"_Look at this!"_

"_Look around you!"_

"_Do you think this madness will end with your rule?"_

"_It's too late. It's too late to stop it." _

"_No. We can. Together." _

"_Sentiment…"_

After facing the fury of the Hulk, Loki planned his escape. Having been inflicted serious wounds, the only way he could move was to drag himself. He could still see the Chitauri still attacking from the skies on their solo-piloted vessels. One by one, each were shot down as Iron Man blew past. The god growled at the display, continuing to drag himself upstairs.

By the time Loki has made it to the roof, he witnessed Widow holding his scepter in front on the Tesseracts portal generator. Without any way to stop her, he watched as she used his staff to penetrates the portals field.

Blinding light filled the skies of New York with the destruction of the portal generator. The wormhole is created started to collapse in on itself; a strong gravitational pull came with it. Pieces of skyscrapers broke off their foundation as they were sucked into the wormhole. The Chitauri and their warships had no chance to escape the pull.

Loki watched as the Avengers retreat inside the safety of the tower, never noticing him. The god brushed them off and slowly crawled towards the Tesseract. Suddenly, Loki felt the pull of the wormhole tug at him. Without any strength left in him, he scrambled t find something to grab. Bits of rubble started to rise around him and flew upward. Loki was able to get a death grip on a slab of concrete right as his body started to lift off the ground. He started to get pelted by debris, growing larger and larger in size.

The creaking of metal drew Loki's attention on the other side of the rooftop. A large air conditioning unit was being held on by mere screws. It didn't take long for it to break loose and hurtle towards him. Without anywhere to go, Loki braces for impact. One of the units' metal corners gashed him right above his brow. He lost his grip and helplessly flew towards the abyss.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Iron Man. He was holding a large missile and heading straight for the portals opening. Loki tried desperately to find floating debris to cling to, in hopes of slowing his ascent. The air conditioning unit was still within reach. Grabbing onto it, the god pulled himself inside the vent on top. He needed something, any type of shelter for what was to come.

As air unit was pulled through the opening of the wormhole, so was Iron Man- and his missile. The portal was near complete collapse. Loki thought, for sure, Stark would be trapped in here with him. Instead, Iron Man released the missile. Activating his suit's thrusters, Stark made escape right as it closed.

With the portals gravitational pull gone, Loki floated aimlessly through space. The god started to climb out of his shelter, assuming the worst was over. Unfortunately, he saw the missile still here. The bomb was heading straight towards the Chitauri's mothership. Loki's eyes widened before scrambling back inside his vent.

There was no sound of the impact; the physics of space did not yield to that. The only thing that alerted Loki of the explosion was a blinding white light. It was followed by a massive amount of nuclear radiation disintegrating the air conditioning unit around him.

After that… nothing.

(Unknown Date; Unknown Time)

A dull throb in the back of Loki's skull pulled him into consciousness. He let out a small moan as his senses came back. It took a few minutes before he found the strength to open his eyes. The god was only met with darkness; the smallest fraction of light emitted in the distance.

To Loki's surprise, he wasn't in any pain- sore, but that was about it. He was able to remember the last moments before the missile explosion. Surely, that would have gravely injured him. The only thing he could rationalize was that he must have been unconscious for a long time. Within that period of time, Loki's body was gradually able to heal himself.

The god slowly grew more self-aware of his surroundings. He struggled to sit up as he felt a tug of added weight on him. Glancing down, the dull light of the hallway revealed the source. Thick, brass cuffs bound his wrists, ankles, and neck. All were interconnected to each other with heavy chains, causing limited movement.

Loki smirked at the thought that these captors think these chains could hold him. He reached out for his magic. The warmth of his Seidr flowed through his fingertips- a familiar, comforting feeling.

Once obtaining enough, snapped his fingers to break the binds. A pulse of glow light covered the brass. As quick as it came, it fizzled away. Loki furrowed his brow. Surely that would have been more than enough to remove them. As he went to try again, he stopped; a small hum vibrated off of the cuffs. Foreign encryptions once hidden were starting to glow blue. When Loki leaned in closer to decider the symbols, he was greeted by a strong discharge of energy coming off of them. The pain was intense as it raced through his nerves. He bit his tongue to hold a startled scream.

The pain only lasted for a few seconds before dying out; with that, the symbols on the cuffs faded. The experience left Loki leaning over himself, panting heavily.

_I guess they were more clever than I though. _Loki thought.

His captors have figured out how to suppress the Seidr- a terrible discovery indeed. Nevertheless, the trickster knew he could escape. Now, he finally had a chance to survey his surroundings. Loki was in a cell, of course. The area looked haphazardly made. Dug out of rock walls, it barely was a seven by seven-foot area. The only thing that looked well made was a strong metal grate blocking the only exit. Otherwise, there were no outlets. It was just a cold, damp cave with moisture dripping from the ceiling.

Loki got to his feet, shaking a little at their lack of use. The only thing he could do was test the strength of the grate. It hurt to move; all the binds have been enchanted with some resilient metals. Loki estimated them all to weigh 150 lbs minimum.

The scraping of his chains on the floor gave away his movements. With trembling hands, Loki grasped the bars. Even his long, slender fingers didn't encompass the girth of each cylinder.

The sound of heavy doors opening came from deep within the hallways- something was coming. Loki backed away from the grate and searched for something to use as a weapon. Multiple sets of footsteps echoed closer. The god gave up looking for a weapon and stood tall and proud.

"The little prince is finally awake I see."

The gravely voice called in the distance. The hallways warm glow drew harsh shadows on the oncoming figures. _Chitauri- two of them. _

Loki swallowed thickly and tried his best to put on his trademark smirk.

"I'm surprised to see any of your weak creatures survived such an explosion. I take it your ships didn't take it as well?"

The gruesome creatures stood at the grate as they ignored the trickster's snide remarks. One Chitauri opened the door with ease; the enchantment must have only been on the inside so no one can escape.

"You have had The Master waiting for far too long."

Loki didn't show concern to their statement as he stood tall. He knew who "The Master" was. _Thanos_. The god had failed his mission, failed Thanos.

"_You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice, where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain."_

An invisible shiver ran up his spine. Standing still, the trickster stayed unreadable.

"Come with us on your own terms," one spat, "Or we will drag you."

Loki said nothing and proceeded forward. His chains scrapped the ground, making his gait awkward. One Chitauri leads the group, while the other stood behind. The halls were unknowingly long, and the silence was tense. Loki grew bored.

"It amazes me to think Thanos kept **your kind** alive," Loki spoke as in casual conversation, "One would say that it was you creatures who failed Thanos, not me."

The Chitauri from behind growled and slammed its foot down on Loki's chains. The god didn't notice at first but taking a step he felt the pull. The chains jerked him to a stop sending him falling forward. Both Chitauri cackled as he crashed into a painful heap on the floor.

"You are lucky The Master wants you to speak," one growled, "Otherwise, we would have cut off that silver tongue of yours."

Loki's lip curled as he went to push himself off the ground. The leading Chitauri bent down and grab the main connecting chain in his claws. Yanking them forward in a swift motion, Loki fell face first back to the ground. They mocked him again as they dragged him the rest of the way.

It felt like hours he's been dragged along the unforgiving rocks. Every time Loki tried to regain his footing, the Chitauri would only pull on his chains again, causing him to fall.

Loki allowed himself to be dragged after his multiple attempts. Instead, he busied himself by staring up at the cave's ceiling and contemplating his escape.

The caves textured change before vanishing, revealing the open sky of stars. Loki already knew where he was; he was at the realm of The Other. As Loki stayed occupied in his mind, he was thrown from it by a jerk of the chains. They pulled so hard that it sent the god flying forward and landing in front of them. He didn't dare give them the pleasure of a groan from his lips- staying silent.

Loki pushed himself up to see why they stopped. His stomach dropped as buried memories unearthed. He stood at a tall staircase- a familiar one. Loki's eyes followed each step, too afraid to look up immediately.

And there it was… the throne that sat on the plateau. Polished metal covered its surface, reflecting back to the vastness of space. The seat sported a tall backing and was swiveled around, hiding its host.

"I see the lost prince has finally awakened."

Loki swallowed the growing lump in his throat at the voice. Its tone gave away a sense of _disappointment_.

A figure stood up from the throne. Loki quickly pulled himself to his feet before it could see him. The purple-tinged man turned and glanced down the staircase to the god.

The Chitauri ran forward and kneeled to Thanos presence. Loki suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, he instead stood tall and unfazed.

Thanos descended the stairs. He wasn't wearing his heavy armor, as the man felt no threat in this realm. He took the steps by two due to his sheer size. Thanos stayed poised and unreadable.

This worried Loki; he had no idea of his intentions. Covered in binds and chains of metal and his magic suppressed, he was no physical threat. At the very least, the lie-smith still had his silver tongue.

Thanos reached the bottom of the steps and stood in front of Loki. Still separated by a few yards, the sheer size of the titan was daunting. Loki forgot just has massive he was.

Thanos spoke first, "It seems you've come back empty-handed."

Loki didn't allow himself to tremble at his words.

"A mere setback," Loki smoothed, "I must have left them behind. Allow me to return to Midgard and I shall retr-"

"You failed me." Thanos interrupted.

"Failure is a strong word," Loki said, "I would call it a 'learning experience'."

The lie-smith glanced at the Chitauri before facing Thanos again.

"For example; I have learned that the Chitauri do not have the intellectual capability to follow my command, thus allowing themselves to be easily defeated by Midgardian warriors."

The Chitauri growled and lunged forward to attack him. One quick glance from Thanos, however, stopped them dead in their tracks. The creatures resumed their kneeled position, still seething.

The titan returned his attention to Loki, "And why should I trust you again?"

"Because I can get you both stones, and more." Loki lied cleanly.

Thanos raised his brow, a look of pure amusement.

"Little one, you speak with such confidence for a banished prince."

Loki smirked, "I would say the term **misplaced** is more appropriate. I am still the rightful ruler of both Asgard and J_ö_tunheim."

The titan quickly grew tired of Loki's self-righteousness.

"Your lies and twisted perceptions are your biggest downfall."

Loki scoffed lightly, "There are no lies here, only promises."

Thanos, impassive to the god's comments, breaks the space in between them and proceeds forward. The titan's large hand reaches out and quickly snatches the god off the ground. His massive fist easily wrapped around Loki's torso.

Although pulled into the air and held hostage by one of the most powerful creatures in the universe, Loki stays unruffled.

"I can see it in your eyes, little one." He sneered, "Your mind is mad, unhinged, and dangles at the brink of insanity."

He drops Loki and watches him fall it the hard ground, the heavy chains land on the god's chest in a heap. It crushed him, but Loki only let out a silent puff of air.

"I give you tools to be victorious, but you failed." Thanos spat, "It is **your** feeble mind who cannot take commands. And now, you come back to me not loosing one, but two of **my** stones. And yet you still believe that I will give you a second chance?"

Thanos snapped his fingers and the Chitauri jumped up. They ran up to Loki and dug their claws into each of his arms. The titan stepped mere inches from him. Towering over him, narrowing his eyes at the trickster.

"I am leaving you here at the mercy of the Chitauri. I will command them to make you suffer for eternity; never to enjoy the forgiving embrace of Death."

Thanos pauses and leaned down to Loki's level. He took his large hand and pinched the god's head to stare him in the eyes. Unable to shake his unbreakable hold, Loki had to gaze into those soulless, black orbs.

"I will take great pleasure in seeing them break you, little prince. That smile you so confidently bare will be ripped forcefully from your face. Your pride stripped to nothing. What little sanity you have left, will die. Maybe then, you might be of use to me."

Thanos released his grip and stood back up. He waited for a response from the lie-smith- but nothing came. Loki lips stayed pressed together, but his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Throw him back in the cell. Strip him of his armor and, most importantly, silence that poisonous tongue of his. And then…" Thanos smiled, "do whatever you please with him."

Dragged back down the halls, Loki said nothing. More Chitauri joined the two in taking the god back to his "new home".

When he was thrown in the cage, Loki expected them to leave him- he was wrong. The creatures flooded the room. They pulled at the chains, detaching them from the cuffs. Loki quickly tried to call his Seidr but was met with the same electric shock. He grits his teeth to hold back a scream. Even though the chains were gone, the infernal cuffs and collar stayed.

They start to tug at his clothes. Loki starts to panic of the mass of hands touching him. They held him down as he struggled under their grip. The creatures start to unfasten buckles and peel off armor. Loki spat obscenities as they continued. One pulled off his tunic; although rough, the Chitauri oddly kept his clothes intact- for some reason. The god's cursing stopped when he felt one unbutton his trousers. His breath quickened as he tries to kick it off. Both his legs are grabbed, and his boots are slid off. The one Chitauri slowly tugs down his pants.

By this time, he's down to only a small undergarment on his waist. The same Chitauri starts to play with the hem of the fabric. Hyperventilating, Loki gained enough strength to free his leg and plant a solid kick to its face. The creature fell back in pain. Other ones move in to attack their fallen comrade.

"Stop!" A Chitauri calls.

The frenzied mass of them stop and turned to the voice. Loki's breathing calmed a little at their recoiling hands. It came from one of the original Chitauri that escorted Loki. It looked over him as the god laid pinned to the ground.

"Let the little prince enjoy the last of his pride." It flashed a crooked smile.

Another Chitauri approached the leader, holding a device in its hands. Loki studied the item carefully; it looked like some sort of crescent-shaped metal band. In the center of the curve had a plate, tiny spikes lined its surface. Loki grew more and more concerned of its purpose.

The leader took the object and held it up to admire it.

"Good. This will work nicely."

The creature started to lean down towards Loki. With his limbs pinned down, he couldn't pull away. Like Thanos, the Chitauri reached over to grasp the god by the jaw.

"That clever tongue of yours won't be much help now."

It was obvious to Loki what it was now- it was a gag. The crescent shape would curve over his mouth and the spiked bit would silence his tongue.

"Open your mouth, Lie-smith." The creature ordered.

In pure rage, Loki was able to crane his head up enough to spit in the Chitauri's face. The leader only responded with squeezing the god's jaw harder to force open. It took pleasure in jamming the bit deep into his mouth. The small spikes pierced Loki's tongue and held it down, rendering him unable to speak.

Loki let out a garbled curse as the taste of blood filled his mouth. The one Chitauri held it in place while another came up from behind. It held a similar metal, crescent-shaped piece, but without the bit. Loki couldn't see it, but he felt it rest on the back of his head. Both metals fused together to encircle his skull and hold the gag in place.

Others put his chains back on before they all stood back, leaving the leader in front. It smiled, unfazed as it wipes the spit off its scarred face.

Loki struggled to sit up. He pulled his weighted hands to his face, feeling the gag; it was certainly not going to come off easy. The more he moved his tongue, the more blood pooled in his mouth. Not wanting to swallow it, Loki tried to spit it out. It ended up dripping down to edges of the gag onto the floor… a humiliating sight.

"The _mighty_ God of Lies has been silenced." The leader barked.

The creatures jeered and mocked the muted god. Loki didn't retaliate. He sat in silence on the ground. Gagged, bound, stripped, and drooling blood, Loki tried to riffle up any sense of pride he had to keep an impassive expression.

They stood and ridiculed him for some time before leaving him alone in the cell. Loki took a deep breath through his nose and tried to pass all this off as a mere inconvenience. He's been through worse… he thinks. Like all the other times, the God of Mischief always found a way to escape.

They would not break him.

Next Chapter: The Alien in the Basement

Word Count: 3,331

Updated on: 8-29-2019


	2. Alien in the Basement

A/N: So happy to see so many reviews and follows on this! Thanks, ya'll!

**Chapter Two:** The Alien in the Basement

Up in the penthouse of Stark Tower, Steve Rogers looked out at the city. It was late afternoon and, finally, things had calmed down enough to call it a day. For the most part, they've been all working together on various Avengers projects. After the Chitauri invasion, Stark Tower pretty much became the official Avengers base camp for the past three years. Every once in a while, they would still go their separate ways for missions: Widow and Hawkeye still had obligations to Shield; Thor traveled back and forth to Asgard a lot, and Tony still had a company to run. However, unlike the others, Bruce and Steve were predominantly at the tower. Bruce preferred to spend more time in his new lab at the tower working on his various projects. Steve, as the face of the Avengers, did a lot of coordination between his team, SHIELD, and the government.

"Hey Spangles, quit sight-seeing! The pizzas getting cold!"

The Captain turned around to look at his team. They were all squeezed together at the small table in the kitchenette; a huge stack of pizza boxes was piled in the center. He rolled his eyes at his nickname and chuckled. Natasha scooted over a little as a gesture for Steve to join them. It almost seemed like everything was back to normal for a second. They all missed their weekly shawarma outings and movie nights. The responsibilities of becoming Earth's Mightiest Heroes have slowly consumed any free time they once had. The conversation was light and cheerily. Thor happily told stories of his visit to Asgard and the battles he's won, and Tony made snarky remarks to his theatrics.

The sound of laughter was quickly silenced by a loud crash coming from below. Everyone immediately jumped from there seats, fully prepared to fight at a moment notice. Even though they weren't in uniform, they always had their weapons nearby.

Tony scanned the room carefully raising his eyebrow in concern. He would have been alerted to any security breach far in advance.

"Yo, Jarvis," Tony called out, "Did you pick up that up?"

_-I did sir-, _The A.I. responded on command,_ -It came from your lab.-_

"My lab, huh? You got a visual on that?"

_-I'm afraid not. Whatever happened shut down my video feed.- _

Tony groaned, sagging his shoulders in a dramatically.

"Tony, is everything okay?"

Stark heard Natasha call his name from behind. He turned around to see his friends still on edge to the situation. Tony pinch the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry to freak you guys out. It's just I had some tests I was running downstairs and- am an idiot to- put Dumb-E in charge. The Tin-Can must have screwed up something."

He threw up his arms in frustration and turned to head towards the elevator.

"You guys go ahead and chill out," Tony waved his hand in dismissal, "I'm just going to make sure Dumb-E still knows how to use a fire extinguisher."

Walking into the elevator Tony and turned around and pointed at Thor.

"And Point Break over there, you _better_ save me a slice. Your limit's _two_ pies remember?"

Thor smiled, already in mid-chew of another slice, and gave him a thumbs-up as the elevator door closed. As Tony went out of sight the others sat back down and continued the conversation as normal. Steve was the last to join them back at the table. He sat down and looked back at the elevator in concern before going in for another slice.

Tony leaned against the elevator wall sluggishly. He was working on some new thrusters for his latest suit and left his robots to run a few test cycles. His anxiety started to grow as he imagined what all that racket was going on down there. The thrusters have been in the works for months. All the endless nights; the blood, sweat, and tears have been put into this new addition. Sure, the old suit was adequate, but after the Chitauri attack, he knew it could use an update.

_If that sorry excuse for a robot broke anything, I'm turning him into a Roomba vacuum. _

All the number-crunching was wearing on him. Since during day he was busy with Avengers and Stark Industry, the only free time he had to work on his suit was at night. Tony often joked that his veins are full of more coffee than blood.

The elevator ding snapped him out of his head. He wondered through the maze of walls with ease. It felt eerily quiet. The lights flickered the farther down the halls he went. A shiver went up Tony's spine as it reminded him of a famous horror movie moment.

Tony kept his eyes peeled, "Jarvis… you still down here?"

_-I am, sir. My audio is working, but in your lab all video and sensors are inoperable.- _

Stark bit the bottom of his lip, praying it was just some power surge -or something of the matter. He walked briskly down the flight of steps leading to his lab. Approaching the door of the lab, Tony cupped his hands over his eyes to see through the glass frame. The lab was pitch black with an uncomfortable silence inside. Every once in awhile, a few sparks would pop up in the darkness around the lab -not a good sign. Tony pulled back and stood there waiting for the door to open automatically upon his arrival. Before he could open his mouth to speak up, Jarvis responded.

_-Sir, I am unable to open it from my end. You'll have to do it manually.-_

Tony let out a frustrated moan. He was getting too spoiled with automated equipment; doing things manually sucked. He grumbled as he rested his hand on a random part of the doorframe. A section of the wall depressed with his touch and a hidden cubby appeared; a dusty keypad was wedged deep inside the hole. Tony set his jaw for a second as he tried to remember the passcode he had set years ago. After a few tries, the door finally clicked open. Even though it was unlocked, he had to manually push it open.

"Dammit, this is definitely not a good sign," Tony grumbled to himself as he pried the door open, just enough to slip through.

After squeezing through, he let the door slam closed behind him. Stark looked around the empty void of black, trying to make out any sort of shapes. The dull glow of his Arc Reactor wasn't a sufficient enough light source.

He hesitated to call out, "Hey, Dumb-E? Are you in here?"

There was no answer.

Tony slid farther into the darkness and tried to avoid the sparks that sprang up past him. In doing so, he unknowing rammed his hip on the corner of a table.

_Shit!_ Tony clutched his injured side.

Even though it was dark, Tony knew the layout of his lab. That table was **not** supposed to be that close to the entrance. As he stepped off to the side to avoid the corner, he heard the crunching of glass beneath his feet. Stark started to panic at the unknown state of his lab. He stayed frozen in one spot and looked up to the ceiling for help.

"Jarvis?"

_-Ye-yes, Mr. Stark?- _

The static in the A.I.'s voice only added to the fear-factor.

"Is there any way you can activate the emergency generator?"

_-I-I can t-try, sir.-_

Jarvis's voice sounded unsure. Tony pulled his hands out to his side to feel around. His fingers brushed up against the metal table he ran into. Swallowing his fear, he probed further. He could feel some of his tools scattered around the table and noted that's not how he left them. Around the lab, he could see the dim glow of the remnants of his computer screens. Tony begged his data wasn't lost from whatever had happened here.

As Jarvis -hopefully- worked on the lights, he continued to run his fingers on the edge of the counter, taking caution to anything sharp. It wasn't until he felt something wet, he stopped. Tony recoiled at the sensation and pulled his hand off the table. Unable to see it, he rubbed his fingers together to identify it; it was barely warm and slick to the touch. Whatever it was, he could feel it slowly trail down his fingers, pooling into his palm.

_Oil? _Tony raised his eyebrow, perplexed. He thought for a second about it, before his eyes widened in fear_. If it's oil, then it's flammable._

He wondered how much of it was leaking around the lab. Sparks from the broken machinery danced in the corner his vision. Any of those could ignite the oil at any second. This place was a death trap waiting to happen.

Before only could think any further, the lights above buzzed ominously and started to flicker, shooting off bursts of light before dying down. In between the blinks of light, Tony tried to get a glance at his hand and froze at the sight. His whole hand was coated in a thick layer of red fluid.

_Blood... _He stretched his hand as far away as possible before trying to shake off the blood. The liquid clung to his skin as it started to dry.

_Was someone in here? Is someone STILL in here? _Tony's eyes darted wildly around the room. The lights didn't give him enough time to look around before the lab plunged back into darkness. He was panicking at the thought he could be alone, in the dark, without his suit, with _something_ in here. He started to back up slowly, but foot slipped. Tony fell backward onto the hard, unforgiving floor. Thankfully, he wasn't near any broken glass at the time. Scrambling to stand back up, Tony stared at the ground as the lights flickered again.

_Red... it's everywhere; so much of it! _

Blood was pooled around him. It coated his arms and stained his white shirt. Adrenaline started to fuel his panicked mind. Tony scooted back, not caring if he couldn't see.

"Jarvis? Jarvis?" Tony screamed.

But no answer came.

Without Jarvis to call the others, Tony needed the hell out on his own. His shoulder grazed past something, causing him to audibly gasp. He threw his arms out to defend himself against the attack but ended up hitting a metal it wasn't an enemy, Tony gripped it tightly with his other hand and hoisted himself up quickly. On the way up, his head collided with something above him. He clutched his head in pain, cursing through his teeth. If an explosion in his lab isn't going to kill him, running around his lab blind will. Quickly shaking off the pain, Tony reached up to locate the object responsible. A cool, metal surface slid over his fingers. He traced in across the surface and down a groove. Tony knit his brows together trying to decipher the object. He was sweating profusely from the panic. His hands still caked with someone…something's blood.

His fingernail hit something, making a ding-ing sound- different than metal. Exploring further, he made the deduction it was a lightbulb. And as if his own light just went off in his head, Tony realized what he ran into. He kept a large spotlight in the lab for extra light when he worked late in the night. It had a large _battery-powered _core. As his life hung in the balance, he groped the backside of it to try to turn it on. He finally grazed over the toggle switch and quickly flicked it. Brightness filled the room in an instant. Tony recoiled, shutting his eyes to the blinding light. He was afraid to open them and turn around. Tony already knew there was blood, but what _else_? Whatever happened must have screwed up the A.I.s system too. Jarvis was now useless. Now he really wished he let the others come down with him. They're upstairs unknowing of Tony's predicament.

Not wanting to keep his back facing the room any longer, he took a deep breath and spun around to face the lab. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw the full extent of his room.

Mouth agape, Tony stared at- or what was left of- his lab. The place was a sight to behold. As if a literal bomb went off, blackened scorch marks covered every surface. His workbenches sewn across the room as if they were toys. Various machines and experiments toppled over, broken, and leaking fluids. Dumb-E was crumpled in the far corner, his arm dangling by a cord. But what got him most wasn't the destruction, no… it was the blood; copious amounts of it intermingling the scorched surfaces. It splatted the floor and pooled off the tables.

"J-Jarvis?!" Stuttering, he tried calling out one more time.

But no still no reply.

Tony held back a scream. The room was silent, but that didn't keep him from being on edge. He tries to swallow back his fear and shuffled through the debris. Whatever happened must have come and gone. It didn't seem anything else was moving around in the room. He stopped next to a pile of files on the ground. The papers were absorbing motor oil that was leaking close by. Picking up the damp files, Tony realized what they were. They were his blueprints for the new Iron Man thrusters.

He turned to place the ruined prints on the counter but noticed something very off-putting. Next to the workbench, on the floor, was a large, sun-shaped scorch mark. The rays extended outwards giving it the effect that the explosion ignited from the center. Tony followed edge with his eyes and onto another pool of blood. The pond of red looked disturbed and seemed like, whatever was bleeding landed there and skidded past. The blood smear streaked across the floor and led to the back corner of the lab. All the furniture and items were pushed out of the way of its trail.

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat and, with shaking hands, set the papers on the table. He was nervous to follow the blood trail, unknowing if something was on the other side of it. The spotlight did light the room better, but it drew harsh shadows on cluttered areas. The streak leads into one of those dark shadows. He took one step forward cautiously, making sure to not step on more glass. Tony opened his mouth, but then closed it quickly.

_If something's there… should I call out to it? What if it attacks? There's a lot of blood… so maybe it's too weak? Should I get the others first? What if it's still in here and I leave? Will it get loose? Maybe I shouldn't go…._

Tony's mind spun with endless decisions. He decided on the latter and followed the trail. Approaching, he reached to the side and grabbed a wrench off a table. Tony was still a good twenty feet from the shadows when the overhead lights buzzed. Flinching a little to the sudden noise, he looked up. Whatever lights weren't broken came back to life. The beams chasing away any lurking shadows from the spotlight.

"Jarvis?" Tony whispered.

-_S-sir, my systems are down. I-I'm going to have to d-do a hard reset_.-

Before he could protest, he heard the distinct noise of the A.I. powering down. Tony was now truly by himself. At the very least, the majority of the lights were back on. He shuddered and spun back into the direction facing the once shadowed section. It appeared to be a blanket… but most blankets aren't covered in blood.

Tony visibly shook, but still crept forward. _Something WAS there._ But it didn't attack him. By now… it probably _would have_ attacked him. Only a few feet away, he was able to study it more. It was fabric was covered in a muddied mixture of blood, soot, and dirt. The edges frayed and burnt holes peppered the material. Underneath it all, the fabrics true color was emerald green. It overall was a large piece of fabric that piled in a heap on the ground.

He bit his lip and gripped the wrench harder as he closed in. Not wanting to touch the disgusting mess, Tony probed it with his tool. There was no response; no movement. He took another hesitating step closer and dug the wrench under the fabric. Raising the wrench, the fabric caught on it. The material was thick and well made. Tony didn't lift it up too far, just enough to push it back a little.

The wrench dropped out of his hand with a loud crash. Tony stumbled back at the sight of it- a blue hand. It laid unmoving under the fabric. Its knuckles were torn and swollen, letting off an ugly purple tinge. Thousands of tiny cuts covered the blue flesh. Tony couldn't help but to yelp, increasing the distance between them, _Shit- an alien!_

Still, no movement is shown from the figure, though the puddle of blood every so slowly grew beneath it.

_That's it, I'm outta here!_ Tony spun around and didn't look back. Prying the lab door back open, he burst back up the stairs to find the others.

"I do not understand this challenge, friend Barton?" Thor looked at the set-up on the table, confused.

"It's called Beer Pong," Clint laughed and handed Thor a ping-pong ball, "Just stand here and throw it into a cup."

The god studied the small object in his hand.

"Is this a duel of sorts?" He held the ball up to his eye and looked back at the table full of cups and beer.

Hawkeye snickered at Thor's expense, then tried to explain it in a more "lay man's terms". Widow stood next to Clint of the opposite side of the table. She couldn't help but have a small smirk on her face.

Bruce walked up to the thundering God and patted him on the shoulder.

"Come' on, buddy. We can't let these two beat us!"

Clint crossed his arms and huffed, "Psh, as if!"

The archer looked over at Steve, who was sitting on a chair nearby watching it all happen. He had the look of a disappointed parent of a bunch of teenagers.

"You better be keeping score over there," Clint joked, "Okay, _grandpa_?!"

Steve only raised his eyebrow at his nickname and gave a forced smile. His friends seemed to have an endless supply of names for him.

Thor took his place on the opposite side of the table. The cups of beer were lined perfectly in two separate pyramid shapes. As he gripped the ping-pong, he pulled back to take aim. When the ball was just about to leave the god's hand, Tony burst through the penthouse doors. The sudden noise startled Thor, hurdling the ball towards Stark.

"Guys, you got to- oh shit!" Tony stumbled forward out of the ball's path.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as the frantic billionaire skidded towards them. Tony's chest heaved as he came to a stop in front of them. He was trying to speak but couldn't catch his breath. His teammates all stared in shock at him. He was hunched over, drenched in sweat, with blood smeared on his shirt and arms. They immediately dropped their game ran him.

"Tony, what's wron- Is that **blood**?!" Steve gasped.

"Th-there's a-a," Tony struggled to finish.

"Come' on! Spit it out!"

"Clint, give him a second!" Natasha scolded.

Bruce put his hand on his panicking friend. "Just breath, Tony."

"Friend Stark? Is there a threat?!" Thor asked, already summoning Mjolnir.

Tony took a deep, shaky breath to calm down. He rubbed his hand over his face to wipe off the sweat.

"Th-there's something in my lab." He panted.

"In the lab?" Steve said.

"Yes… my lab, it's destroyed. And there's blood… so much blood…"

The thunderer swung his hammer, "Then let us go find this beast!"

**Next Chapter:** The Fight for Survival

_Word Count: 3,342_

_Updated On: 8-31-19_

_Posted On: 8-31-19_


	3. The Fight For Survival

A/N: Sorry for the wait! The chapter's been finished but trying to get time on my computer to post it took a while. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3:** _The Fight for Survival_

* * *

_The thunderer swung his hammer, "Then let us go find this beast!"_

_xxxxx_

Tony tried his best to collect himself and waited to lead everyone down. He called to JARVIS to bring his suit. _I'm not going to make that mistake again. _The A.I., thankfully, had finished its reboot and sent Iron Man his way. He waited impatiently as others quickly collected their weapons and followed him to the elevator.

"What did you see down there?" Bruce said, his voice wavered in concern.

"I think it was some type of alien," Tony blinked trying to recall, "it looked… pretty dead."

Steve knit his eyebrows together in concern. After seeing the what the Chitauri are capable of, he didn't really like the idea of any more aliens on Earth- Thor was the only friendly alien he's met. Only being three years later and the city is still healing from the attacks. It takes a lot more than that to rebuild an entire city.

"Well, let's not let our guard down just because it's, presumably, dead."

The Avengers wasted no time getting past the elevator and to the lab door. All holding their weapons up, Tony kept the lead and pulled down his helmet. They all waited while JARVIS took back control of the damaged systems and opened the lab door.

When they got inside, Tony didn't want to talk, so he just pointed to the corner where he found the thing. The others split into groups, taking different routes to head to the corner. Bruce stayed close behind Tony, knowing it would probably be best if he didn't Hulk out just yet.

By the time they circled around the room, no one indicated that there was anything out of the ordinary- other than the lab being completely destroyed. They all met in the back corner where Tony originally pointed to. The bloodied cloth was still there, with whatever it was underneath it. They all waited and watched it for any signs of movement. Five minutes passed and no one took the initiative to progress forward.

"That's it. If no one's going to do it, I will," Clint muttered under his breath.

No-one stopped him as he crept forward. Everyone watched carefully in case the thing was to pop up and attack. Clint got a few feet from in and repositioned his bow. Extending it forward, he prodded the cloth with the edge of his bow. When nothing happened, Clint rolled his eyes and pulled back his bow.

"Well, whatever it is… it's dead."

Everyone seemed to ease up a little at the archer's statement. Steve walked forward to Clint and looked down at the thing.

"Is this thing an alien?"

"Tony," Bruce said as he came out from his hiding spot behind Iron Man, "didn't you say this thing had blue skin?"

"Yeah," Stark's helmet popped open, "it did."

"Then it can't be a Chitauri," Natasha stated.

Tony sighed, knowing what he had to do, he went to stand in front of the creature. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he squatted down. Tony was relieved he was wearing his suit as he grabbed the edge of the dirty cloth. He bit his lip as he gained enough courage to pull the fabric off to the side to reveal it.

The creature still laid there, bathed in its own blood. The leather armor it wore was almost unrecognizable as it was shredded, burned, and soaked in blood. Whatever blue skin was exposed, it was covered in patches of purple and black bruises; new and old injuries peaked out from under them.

"Looks pretty dead to me," Tony stated bluntly.

As they started to discuss with how to proceed with a dead alien in the lab, Thor didn't listen. He was still staring at the alien. As much as the god tried, he couldn't pinpoint why this thing looked so _familiar_.

The clothing was unrecognizable and the creatures face was covered in a matted mess of long, raven hair. All its limbs were bound by heavy chains and a collar fastened securely to its neck. Something within Thor couldn't help but to proceed forward.

"Thor, what are you doing?" Widow broke out of the conversation to look at him.

The Thunderer ignored her and knelt down beside the alien. His hands started to reach forward to touch it. They trembled a little for some odd reason.

"What are yo-?" Steve was about to ask when Thor made context with the creature.

He brushed past the tangled hair to reveal its face, trying his best just to touch only the hair. The blue skin underneath was etched with silver markings on its chiseled cheeks and forehead. More thin tattoos snaked down its neck, disappearing under the metal collar. Like it's body, it's face was bruised and bloodied beyond recognition. Along its dark hairline, two curved horns protruded from either side.

Thor's eyes widened as the features sparked in the back of his memory. Underneath the blood and bruises was a familiar face. His heart lept into his throat. Thor had seen this face many, many centuries ago.

"Brother…" He whispered.

"Brother? Brother?!" Tony screamed, gawking at the creature, " Are you telling me that… Smurf is Loki?!"

The rest of the Avengers immediately separated themselves a few more feet from the fallen god; all of them, except Thor. He frantically checked his brother over for any signs of life. His hands brushed against Loki's exposed blue skin, an icy burn bit Thor's hand. He quickly recoiled at its sting and grit his teeth in pain.

Steve watched Thor attempting to help his "so-called" brother. The Captain didn't know what thor saw in the creature to think it was his brother. The blue skin and horns were nothing like Steve remembered the trickster. Nonetheless, Thor looked horrified and looked like he was about to lose it. Steve licked his lips and took a step closer to his blonde friend.

"Thor…" Steve asked nervously, "are you sure that's Loki?"

_There's no way this could be Loki._ Steve thought. The green fabric and dark hair were the only small indicators that this was the God of Mischief. Either way, there was no way he was alive. The pool of blood he laid in was more of a lake and his body looked torn to bits. Just the sight of the injuries made Steve nauseous.

"Aye. This is… my brother," Thor choked, "Loki is a Jotun. This is his true form."

The god swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn't accept Loki was dead- he's never dead. Thor knew his brother would spring back to life just like he always does. What concerned him the most about it was that Loki was in his Jotun form. Odin's magic was powerful. The spell he cast on the God of Mischief shouldn't have broken… only death can take it away.

"Loki…Brother," Thor pleaded, " please wake up. It is I, Thor, your brother."

Thor grabbed his brother by the shoulders and pulled him close. He made sure he didn't touch his brother's frosted skin. Thor noted that Loki's body was remarkably smaller than he remembered. It has only been three years since he last saw his brother at the battle in New York. The Avengers assumed that Loki had escaped after his untimely defeat. After months of looking, they never found him.

Thor just stayed there, whispering quiet pleads as he held him closer… waiting, begging for some sort of sign of life. Loki's body was limp in his arms. His bloodied chest didn't rise nor fall.

"Thor…" Bruce went to say something to comfort his friend.

Thor whipped his head around to face the Avengers. His pained eyes flashed with rage.

"Don't just stand there! Help me!"

"He's dead, Thor," Clint said bluntly. Someone finally spoke the words they all were too afraid to say.

Much to their surprise, fat, angry tears fell from the god's eyes. He was disgusted his friends have given up on his brother so easily. The rage of it all pulsed through him like never before. His rage conjured static in the air. The snapping of electricity circled around him.

Everyone backed up to the increasing static in the air. The pulsing electricity was short-circuiting the lights around. Bulbs started to flicker and buzz with the added power surge.

Tony stared at the flashing lights on the ceiling and looked back at Thor.

"Listen Sparky, you're going to blow this place up if you keep doing that."

Thor couldn't hear them as he closed his eyes and gripped Loki tighter. All the pain he felt was being transformed into the electric energy around him.

Widow could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She could see the static building around Thor's body. The lights flickered even faster with the charge.

"Guys," Natasha warned, "we need to get out of here before h-."

Before she could finish, a huge surge of light enveloped the lab. An intense burst knocked them all off their feet, sending them skidding in different directions. The lights above immediately shattered and the glass rained down from the shockwave. After all the lights exploded, only one left was the battery-powered spotlight.

Steve groaned as he pushed himself up. Dusting off the glass, he turned to check on his teammates.

"Is everyone okay?"

The others slowly got up and nodded. No one was injured, just dazed from the shockwave. Amazingly, Bruce was able to keep the Hulk in check from the incident.

If Tony's lab wasn't already destroyed, it definitely was now. The room was filled with smoke and dust from the blast. Slowly, the haze settled to reveal Thor. He was still hunched over clutching his brother, completely unaware of what just happened.

"Uhh… what's going on with Loki?" Steve stammered.

It started with Loki's blue hands sparkling with a gold shine. His flesh turned pale as it crept up his arm. The horns slowly receded back into his forehead and engraved silver markings lightened until vanishing. The once blue creature, although still severely beaten and bloody, looked more like Loki again. Thor was right. The creature actually was Loki.

"Thor, what did you do?" Widow asked. She heisted a little before inching closer to the brothers.

The older god heard there calls this time. He opened his eyes and blinked away the tears, only for them to widen at his now pale brother. Thor was shocked to see Loki returned to his Aesir complexion- still deathly pale, nonetheless.

Loki eyes still remained closed, but something was different. Loki's chest shuttered and let out a faint, ragged breath. It was so slight; it wasn't even noticeable under the layers of rags he wore. Thor only knew because he felt it from holding Loki so close to his chest. He felt no pulse, but there must have been one.

"He's alive!" Thor cried.

His friends stood there, mouths agape. Loki was alive… how? They never saw his chest move, but Thor's reaction told the truth.

"That son of a bitch just won't die," Clint cursed under his breath just loud enough for only Tony to hear.

Tony glanced at Hawkeye and set his jaw. Yeah, he wished Loki was dead, but the inner turmoil of watching Thor gave him conflicting emotions. Both he and Clint hated the god the most- except maybe the Hulk.

Thor stammered, continuing to stare at Loki for another breath. The realization of the situation washed over him, "But how?!"

Bruce hesitantly walked over to Widow and Thor. He was afraid of the Other Guy might burst out at the mere sight of Loki. Thankfully, he continued to hold his control. Bruce couldn't believe this shockingly small man could even breath until he witnessed a weak gasp himself.

"I-I think it was you, Thor," Bruce met eyes with the blue-eyed god, "That burst of electricity must have been strong enough to restart his heart."

The thought of shocking Loki back to life gave Thor goosebumps; he didn't even realize he did that. He looked back down at his brother, a warm smile tugged at his lips. Thor was able to save him. He would have never been able to forgive himself if he couldn't. No matter what Loki has done, he is his little brother. His brother that's mind has grown dark from the shadows that haunted him all his life. There may be some hope for him left.

"But… he's not going to live for much longer."

Thor's head snapped back to Bruce at his comment. The smile dropped from his face immediately. The words felt like a punch to the gut.

"Why would you say such a thing?!" Thor cried.

"Thor… look at him," Bruce motioned to his little brother, "h-he's so... so…"

Bruce couldn't figure out how to say it. He didn't want to be the one to have to squash the small spark of hope that Thor clung so desperately too.

Stepping forward, Steve decided it was time to intervene. He looked into Thor's eyes. The god's face begged for reasoning. The Captain understood where Bruce was coming from and what he was trying to get at. Steve feared too much stress on the doctor might cause the Hulk to escape. Maybe he could find better words.

"What Bruce is trying to say…" Steve started but he hesitated for a second, "he wanted to say that… he's too far gone for help."

Rage built inside of Thor. His so-called friends have given up on Loki so fast. He just got his heart going again. Shouldn't that be enough for them to realize Loki was a fighter? They wouldn't even try to give him a second chance. If Loki lived, and the Avengers nursed him back to health, Thor believed Loki will change.

"No! Loki is alive! We can save him!"

"Look, Thor," Tony stepped in. He was done listening to this pointless argument, "One, Loki looks like he went through a shredder. And two-"

Tony didn't stop there. He was going to be honest with Thor- real honest. The anger wasn't just in Thor, it lived inside him too. But his was for the Chitauri attack. It was still fresh in his mind. Tony will never forget the feeling that surged through him as the world watched the Avengers battle the Earth's greatest threat. People died- a lot. It wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"This guy has tried to kill us… to kill you! Multiple times I might add! He's tried to take over the world!" Tony screamed, gesturing wildly, "He threw me out a **fucking** window! And you… you want to save him?! …All because he's your _brother_?!"

The tension in the room went from one to one hundred in two seconds. Tony stood there panting from his outburst, waiting for Thor's response. Which he knew wasn't going to be happy. In fact, the god wanted to kill Iron Man where he stood for questioning his morals. He loved his friends dearly, but he loved his brother more. He and Loki went through too much over thousands of years to be nothing. Loki wasn't an innocent man, but his judgment has been clouded by hatred. His mind was ill. Deep inside, Thor knew Loki was a caring, sensitive man.

The only reason Thor didn't get up from his spot to fight was the faint gasp from Loki's lips. His brother was dying, but Thor's hard-headedness refuses to allow it. Instead, Thor made an ultimatum of his own. Holding Loki carefully, Thor slowly rose to his feet. The smaller god was tucked away, hidden in his brother's massive arms. The heavy chains attached to Loki dangled on the ground. Thor quickly rounded them up around his hand so they wouldn't pull on his brother.

The others backed away, unsure of the god's next actions. Thor did nothing but glance down at Loki with sad eyes. A single tear slipped down his cheek. He inhaled sharply and proceed forward towards the exit. The Avengers moved out of his path as the god carefully maneuvered through the scattered obstacles.

"Wait," Steve called out, trying to catch up to him, "Where are you going?!"

Thor turned around, careful to not jostle his brother. The mix of anger and hurt in his eyes shot right through Steve like a gun. Never has Thor had such a terrifying presence. The energy coming off of him really did show how god-like he was.

"I am going to the towers healing chambers," He stated venomously. He turned around and started to walk out, "If you will not help, I will save my brother myself."

Before anyone could protest, he was gone; no one wanted to stop him. The remaining Avengers were left in a state of shock. To their credit, there was nothing they could do. No one wanted to tell Thor "no".

Bruce stood looking at the exit of the lab. A conflict rose inside of him.

"I-I think maybe I should go help him..." Bruce murmured.

"What?!" Tony and Clint both yelled in unison at Bruce's ridiculous thought.

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Bruce?" Natasha asked cautiously as she walked towards him. No one liked the idea at all of helping Loki, so why did Bruce have this dilemma?

"I'm a doctor…", Bruce stated looking at his teammates, "I have obligations, an oath to help someone in need."

"Yeah, we know!" Clint interrupted, "But this isn't just anybody, this is _Loki_ we're talking about!"

"Yes, but-"

"No Bruce, I don't want…" Tony demanded as he gestured up the stairs, "-that **thing **in my tower! Let alone be saved!

Bruce shrank back a little at Clint and Tony's verbal assaults. They didn't understand the moral obligations of a doctor; he said the oath. Besides, even if that wasn't a problem, Loki crashed into the tower pretty much dead. Bruce had little hopes that they could even save him. Clearly, he went through something very bad to end up here in that kind of shape- he's a god after all. They would never know the truth if they just let him die.

"Steve." Natasha calls to get the Captain's attention, "You're the boss. It's your call."

As Tony starts to pick a fight with Widow over who the leader was, while Steve stood deep in thought. No one's opinion here seemed unreasonable. He saw both sides of Tony and Bruce's argument. Then, there are his own morals that come to play. The choice he makes will be bad either way. Either Loki dies and Steve lives with the guilt, or they save him and he still feels guilty for saving a genocidal maniac. Why did Natasha even have to put him on the spot like this? Steve nervously runs his fingers through his hair, trying to think it through.

"Come 'on Cap, you know I'm right!" Tony scoffed, crossing his arms.

Steve took a deep breath and came to a decision.

"We're going to help Loki."

Tony's jaw dropped over Steve final word. Even Clint and Natasha's eyes went wide in surprise. Only Bruce showed a sense of relief wash over his face.

"B-but why?" Tony stammered. He couldn't comprehend what led him to choose that.

"Because we are the good guys," Steve said matter of fact, "We take the high road. If someone lays vulnerable is the _high road _to kill them while they're down? Does it make you feel better that you can play God and choose when someone should live or die? Is that the _high road_ still? When your teammate, your friend, begs for help and you deny them that… is that the _high road_? I don't like the guy as much as you guys do, but there's a basic moral that we as heroes live by… and I can't go against that."

"Damn, why is he so good at saying guilty shit like that?" Hawkeye pouted.

Tony didn't respond to either's comment. He just scowled and looked away. It was **his** tower, **his** lab, and **his** sickbay. Why does Steve get to be the deciding factor in all of this? Clint was right though... Steve was always good at his damn speeches.

Bruce quietly walked up to Steve, "…thank you."

The Captain gave him a small smile and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He admired Bruce's moral compass, even if the Other Guy begs to differ. Steve could always count on Bruce to do the right thing. The doctor was the voice of reason.

"Bruce, how about you and I go find Thor," Steve suggested.

Bruce gave a small nod. The two-headed for the exit, while the others stood dumbfounded. Left out of the conversation, Tony curled his lip.

"And what the hell do you want **us** to do?!"

Steve gestured Bruce to go ahead as he turned around to face his disgruntled teammates. Clint and Tony looked pissed, but Natasha's face held no emotion. She honestly didn't know what to think of it all. Although she sided with Tony and Clint, Steve was a respectable man and his intentions were never wrong.

"You can do whatever you want." The Captain replied sternly, "If you need us, we'll be in the infirmary."

When no one responded, Steve turned around to catch up with the others.

Thor mazed through the endless halls, trying to remember the way to their healing chambers. Loki was slowly slipping away with each passing minute. He wanted to stop to check on his brother, but he didn't want to risk any more time. The halls slowly became more familiar as he reached the infirmaries sliding glass doors. Automatically opening to Thor's presence, he wasted no time rushing in.

The bright white walls if the room were a welcoming sight to the blonde. He passed by the privacy curtain that covered the hallway to the rest of the infirmary. Thor forgot how large it was. Various sized machines lined neatly in the corner of the room next to the large hospital bed. There was a large desk along one wall with built-in cabinets all around. The room even had an en-suite bathroom for convenience. The sickbay has been used on countless occasions for simple patch-up jobs, but never one for something as serious.

Making his way up to the bed, Thor carefully set his brother down on the clean, white sheets. They almost immediately stain red on Loki's presence. Thor backed up, completely paralyzed on where to begin. He had never tended to someone's injuries; maybe a few, but nothing like this. Fresh tears threaten to spill from his eyes again. Thor realized he couldn't do this alone. Out of sheer luck, he saved Loki last time.

A small wheeze came from the younger god. Thor immediately dashed over and fell to his knees by his bedside. He took Loki's frail hand within his massive ones.

"Brother," Thor pleaded, "Tell me how I can aid you!"

The god's pleas came unanswered. It was hard to tell Loki's expression under all the dirt, blood, and bruises. Thor rested his head on their held hands. He prayed to the Norns for guidance. Letting Loki slip away from in between his fingers was not an option.

"Thor!"

The blonde popped up to hearing his name. Bruce appeared at the entrance of the sickbay. The doctor ran up to Thor's side panting.

"I'm here… to help." He declared through heavy breaths.

As Bruce spoke, Steve came rushing in. Thor couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Tears of joy streamed down his cheeks.

"My friends, you came."

"We're a team, Thor," Steve said as a warm smile spread across his face, "We would never turn our back on one of our own."

Thor used his sleeve to wipe away the tears. He wasn't alone; he was never alone. Hope surged through him, renewing his energy. Whatever it takes, he will do it to save Loki.

Bruce was already at Loki's side. He trying to assess his condition. The doctor has never treated an alien, a god before. Who knows what their biology is- that, and how relates to human anatomy? There was no time to do any scans or imaging. Bruce would just have to wing it; either that or Loki dies.

Noticing Thor and Steve waiting for his commands, Bruce had to act.

"The chains will have to wait. He's too critical right now. I can't diagnose anything else with the state his body is in." Bruce said looking to Thor, "I need you to get a pair of scissors from the desk drawer."

Thor didn't waste a second. He sped over to the table and dug threw every drawer frantically. As Thor did that, Bruce turned to Steve.

"I need a bucket of water and washcloths… a lot of them."

The Captain nodded and ran off as Thor came back quickly with the scissors. Bruce took the shears from him turned back to Loki. Even though the god's clothes were torn, Bruce needed them off to get the full extent of his injuries. Thor quickly saw where Bruce was going and started to carefully pull Loki's cape and armor off. Bruce grabbed Loki's tunic and started to cut through it. All of the god's garb was woven with thick fabric and dense leather, making it extremely hard to cut through.

After getting the top half off, Bruce quickly turned to Loki's trousers. Thor started showing signs of anxiety over the fact. He pushed back the thoughts and worked on getting his brother's leg armor and boots off. Together they stripped Loki down to just his undergarments. Once it was prepped, they waited for Steve to return.

"I grabbed as many as I could," Steve called as he rushed to them, one arm was full of towels, while the other carrying a large bucket of water.

Bruce thanked him quickly took two of the washcloths. Dipping it into the bucket and squeezing off the excess water, he spun back to Loki.

"We need to clean him off. I can't tell his injuries under all of it." The doctor handed a damp cloth to each of them, "You don't need to get through, just enough to expose his skin more."

All the chains were pushed out of the way. Removing them would be a later project. For now, they needed Loki stable.

Thor and Steve took a washcloth each and got to work. Bruce left to grab antiseptic, thread, and a needle. The bucket of water muddied quickly as they each took turns washing off their towels. When it became too much, Steve grabbed it and ran to the bathroom for clean water. Bruce passed Steve as he pulled up a rolling cart full of supplies, nearly colliding.

Before the doctor could start, a horribly wet gurgle came from Loki. Both he and Thor jerked their head to look at him. A stream of blood started to trickle down the corner of the god's mouth.

"Shit!" Bruce ditched the rolling cart and ran to the opposite side of the bed.

Thor stood there panicked as Bruce started tugging wires on a machine by the bed. Plugging it in, he rolled it up as close to the bed's headboard. Before he continued, the doctor looked down at his bloodied hands. He muttered something under his breath and raced to the sink, crossing paths with Steve again when he returned with the fresh water.

"What's going on?" Steve panicked as he saw Bruce scrubbing the blood off his hands frantically.

Bruce didn't respond immediately as he quickly wiped his hands off and ran back to the bed. The poor man sweat profusely from all the stress. Bruce grabbed a long clear tube hooked to the machine he pulled up.

"His lungs are filling with blood," Bruce explained leaning over the bed, "I need to intubate him before he drowns."

The doctor didn't give anyone time to ask questions. He tilted Loki's head back to get a straight path and held the tube steady. Bruce was going in this blind. Hopefully, Jotun- or whatever he is- has the same anatomy to allow them to be intubated. If that wasn't the only problem, he didn't have time for any type of imaging to make sure he did it correctly. If he was lucky, the tube will go into his lungs, if not, it could snake its way down his stomach.

Bruce took a deep breath and started to guide the tube down Loki's throat. The god made the smallest jerk at the sensation. The doctor felt Loki movement underneath his hand and panicked. He forgot the god wasn't under any sedation. In the state that Loki was in, if he was sedated, he may never wake up again.

"Thor!" Bruce called, keeping his eyes firmly planted on Loki, "I need you to hold him still."

Thor swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. He wasted no time coming to lean over his brother. Making sure he wasn't in the way of Bruce doing his work, Thor applied light pressure to Loki's shoulders. He didn't feel much resistance from his younger brother. It was mostly just involuntary twitches from the tube.

"And Steve…"

The Captain jumped at Bruce calling his name.

"Don't stop cleaning him off! Once I do this, I need to be able to see him."

Steve agreed as he pulled another towel out to get to work on Loki's chest. He was making progress cleaning his chest. Loki's sickly pale skin peaked behind the layers of grime. Steve kept repeating the routine before moving onto another spot.

Bruce had to ignore the sweat dripping down his nose as he steadied the tube. When he thought it was in position, he grabbed the mouthpiece. It latched around the tube and had an elastic band attached to secure it around Loki's head. Bruce reached towards the machine and flipped a few switches. The lights flickered on and it started to pump oxygen back into Loki's lungs.

_That's one crisis averted. Now a twenty more to go… _

Once instructed, Thor released his hands from his brother and went back to grab another washcloth. Bruce continued to direct the others to clean him up. He pointed to certain areas to do first. He pulled up more machines and started to place sticky pads on the clean areas of the god's chest. Within a few short minutes, Bruce got Loki hooked up to a heart monitor and blood pressure reader.

They all worked together and cleaned off the rest of the blood and grime caked to Loki's body. The final results revealed why Loki was in this bad of shape. Steve looked like he was going to vomit, as Thor turned three shades paler.

Underneath all of the layers were the signs of torture. The top half of his chest was branded with symbols foreign to them. The burns sunk deep into skin and muscle, only stopping when it hit bone. Every exposed body part was either bleeding from fresh wounds or scarred from old ones. One old scar peaked out from under the metal collar was stretched across Loki's neck- a slit throat. Some scars were so large that it distorted his skin from the healing. Every limb had some sort of gruesome bruise or burn on it. Bruce could only assume broken bones by the depth and color of some of those bruises.

But the worst of them all wasn't the burnt skin or the scars … no, it was far worse. At the very beginning of removing Loki's clothing, Bruce put a tentative pressure bandage on the center of his chest. He covered a wound that bled profusely. Now, the gauze had absorbed the extent of the blood and seemed to slow the bleeding. Bruce deemed it absolutely necessary now to treat it. He peeled it away slowly, holding extra gauze in his other hand in case it started to bleed too much.

What it revealed would be ingrained in the minds of all three men forever. A physical hole was in the center of Loki's chest. The circumference was large enough for Bruce to slide three fingers in easily. The hole was where his ribs _should_ be. As much as Bruce didn't want to, he put on a pair of gloves and used his fingers as a blunt tool to feel around. Both Steve and Thor had to look away at the gore of it.

As he slid his fingers no more a half an inch into the gaping hole, he could feel ribs. Bruce's heart skipped a beat. Loki's ribs have been snapped in half; they impaled the god's lungs, collapsing them in the process. It was pure luck none of them hit his heart.

Bruce had to step back. It was too much. He had gotten over his head now. Loki was just a mess of blood and bones. The doctor allowed himself to take a few slow, deep breaths. A death sentence to Loki would be if the allowed Hulk to show up. Bruce used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Bruce?"

Bruce heard the Captain's whisper and looked over to see both Steve and Thor in a state of shock; both were trembling at the sight.

"Bruce…" Steve repeated a little louder, his voice wavering, "W-what can I… we do to help? He's bleeding out."

Steve was right. The gaping hole in the center merely was still spilling blood at a steady rate. No matter how hard Bruce tried to prod the hole carefully, it disturbed the healing process. Although that was the most prominent wound, many other cuts still bled freely.

Bruce took a deep breath and looked at Steve.

"Can you sew?"

"Not well…" Steve replied, knowing where this was going.

Biting his lip in thought, Bruce turned to the abandoned rolling cart. He picked up the needle and thread and handed it to Steve.

"It's going to have to do," Bruce said.

Bruce noticed Thor hasn't spoken a single word in a very long time. When he glanced over at him, Thor was now taking a washcloth to his brother's face. He was gentle and careful not to jostle the breathing tube. Thor tried to clean the remnants of blood off his face since they were focusing so heavily on the rest of his body. The cloth wiped away enough to reveal Loki's two black eyes and long jagged scars crossing over his face. One particular fresh cut above his eyebrow didn't stop bleeding.

His eyes fell back on the hole and Bruce knew that, if he messed this up, it will kill Loki. The god needed to be as stable as possible before attempting to work on it. Until then, the ventilator did an adequate job. Bruce took more gauze and made another makeshift pressure bandage on the hole.

Another small noise escaped Loki's lips. They all turned to see the god's face contort in pain. Bruce's eyes widened as he knew he needed to act immediately.

"Thor, hold him down again!" Bruce directed as he ran to the cabinets across the room, "We need to keep him calm and still!"

"And Steve…"

The Captain turned to see Bruce running back with his hands full of supplies.

"Don't stop stitching the wounds!"

Steve didn't say anything. He just nodded and went back to work. Each time he finished a cut, Bruce instructed him to disinfect it and bandage it.

Bruce laid the pile of supplies on the side of the bed. He pulled over an IV stand behind him and started to hang numerous bags of liquids on it. Taking out a sterile needle, he tried to get an IV started in a vein. The god was so dehydrated that it was almost impossible to find a vein. It took many tries and a lot of blown veins, but he was able to get one in both his hand and elbow. Bruce started the tedious process of connecting all the tubes; he favored one in-particular. Sliding the tube through a computer on the IV stand and activated it. The liquid started to drip out of the bag and into the IV.

"This is a fast-acting sedative. It is risky to do, but we have no choice." Bruce gestured to the bag with his eyes, then to Thor, "You can let go of his now."

Thor hesitated for a second before letting go. As he leaned back, he noticed his brother's face was a little more peaceful. The tube, however, horrified him. He's never seen Asgardian healers use any sort of device like that.

"Thor, do you know anything about Jotun blood?" Bruce asked pulling the god from his trance.

Thor shook his head. Other than their giant size and frozen skin, he knew close to nothing about them. Stories told in Asgard never talked about things like that. The told stories of evil, war, and the hate that comes with it.

"Loki needs blood… bad. I'm going to have to risk it and give him a synthetic blend. I'm also putting him on heavy antibiotics and a saline drip." Bruce rattled off a long list of things he was doing. It wasn't really to inform them as much as to talk himself through his own thought process.

Thor blinked. He didn't know what any of this meant. All he saw was his brother covered in various tubes and bandages. The sound of the ventilator gave him chills. The beeping of the heart monitor was the only indicator that Loki was alive.

"I have complete trust in you, Dr. Banner."

Bruce's face relaxed a little at Thor's faith in him. He went over to the fridge and pulled out a large, clear bag of blood. The doctor had to pull up another IV pole to house more bags on. He continued to talk to himself through his next steps in hopes to keep himself calm.

"Ok... alright. I'll let the transfusion finish and give it twenty -no thirty minutes before starting another one. Shit! No… that won't work. I need to add a line."

Steve was starting to worry about Bruce. He was mumbling incoherently. Nothing is worse than Bruce being stressed. But he knew he needed to stay focused on sewing Loki back up. It wouldn't help to give him blood if he kept bleeding it all out.

The doctor ushered Thor to stand back as he came over and laid out a large paper sheet over Loki's left side. In the center of the sheet had a hole that exposed a small part of Loki's upper arm. Steve started to stand up, scared he was in Bruce's way.

"You can stay, Steve." Bruce quickly assured him as he placed a mask over his face, "I just need a sterile area. So, don't cross this paper I laid out."

As Bruce places in a central line, Thor stood at a distance and watched the doctor work. It looked like a tedious process. Bruce had a full gown on coupled with gloves and a mask. Using countless alcohol wipes, he carefully cleaned each connection before inserting it. It took almost half an hour to deem it a success. A PICC line was inserted on Loki's left side, on his upper bicep. A special bandage was placed around it to keep it the tube in place. Bruce pulled off the mask and let out a loud, drawn-out breath. He cleaned up the sterile area and tossed all the used supplies in the trash.

"Bruce," Steve said, worried he'd interrupted his process, "How about you take a little break. Look, I just finished patching him up and-"

"I can't." Bruce interrupted, his voice was soft but weary. "Loki has enough support to keep him 'alive enough' for the surgery I need to do…"

Both Steve and Thor collectively gasped. Even Thor knew what surgery was. In Asgard, surgery was the last option of magic couldn't save someone; that was something very rare.

"You said he has support," Thor blurted out, gesturing to all the equipment, "Is this not adequate enough?"

"For Christ's sake, Thor! He's got a gaping hole in his chest! Of course, that's not enough!

The god flinched back at Bruce's words. A tinge of green started to creep up the doctor's neck. He growled and clutched his head. Taking deep breaths, Bruce was able to fight the green away.

"N-no! I'm sorry!" Bruce cried out, "I didn't mean that! It's just… just…"

Steve walked over to his emotional friend.

"It's ok, Bruce. We understand."

Bruce's eyes fell to the floor, embarrassed by his outburst. This was an unbearable amount of weight on his shoulders to save Loki. It actually made it harder that the man was semi-immortal. Loki's body couldn't decide whether to die or to live. It made predicting his recovery close to impossible.

"You said it yourself to Thor that he was 'not alone'," The Captain rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, "That applies to all of us."

"Banner, please. Do not take all this on your own. We may not be healers, but we can still assist you." Thor said, "This surgery… what does it entail?"

Bruce listened to their kind words. It touched him deeply. As the doctor, he admits, the burden is heavier. Glancing over to Loki, the god is far from the clear. The heart monitor beeps irregularly and his chest rises only slightly with each machine-forced breath.

Giving one last deep breath, Bruce looked to his teammates.

"Loki's ribs have snapped and are now piercing his lungs. Doing that has caused both of them to collapse. They're filling with blood. Being like this for too long could cause major complications and infections. That's why I gave him a PICC line. It's a tube that's fed closer to the heart. I'm pumping him with as many antibiotics as I can. It was originally connected to his forearm, but I needed that port for the blood transfusions."

The doctor gave the two a moment before continuing.

"The surgery will be to remove the broken ribs and if I can screw them back in place. He'll need chest tubes; one to suck out the blood and one to remove the air in his chest cavity. After all of that, then we can focus on the actual hole in his chest."

Steve and Thor listened intensely, allowing their brains to drink in all this material. They both realized that, by the way Bruce described it, this was going to be a long night. Both were interrupted in thought by Bruce clearing his throat.

"This surgery will take hours. I don't know how many, but it will be touch and go," Bruce's eye gazed darker for a second, "Loki's body might not be able to handle it all. It's a high possibility we can lose him on the table. But, if we don't try, he'll die anyway."

"What shall we do now?" Thor asked, fearing the worst.

"We need to scrub up. This whole perimeter needs to be sterile." Bruce pursed his lips, "Other than that… we're just going to have to go in blind."

* * *

**Next Chapter:** _A Breath of Fresh Air_

Word Count: 7,244

Updated On: 9-16-2019

Posted On: 9-16-2019


	4. A Breath of Fresh Air

**Chapter Four:** A Breath of Fresh Air

* * *

Loki couldn't remember anything. It was dark, an explosion filled his senses. The pain was the only indicator he was still alive. Wherever he landed, he landed hard. Skidding across a slick floor before crashing into a wall, crumpling in on himself in a fetal position.

_It hurts... it hurts so bad. _

Trying to take even a slight breath was almost impossible. He felt like he was impaled with a thousand swords. His body wouldn't move, wouldn't respond to his requests. Not even his eyes had the strength to open. Relying on hearing was pointless; sounds were muffled and dull as his ears ringed incessantly. His stomach churned at the intense vertigo it brought on.

The fight to stay conscious continued. Passing out was not an option. Wherever he landed was unknown, presumably dangerous. He needed to stay awake, to open his eyes. A small moan escaped his lips as he felt something warm pool over his hand. He knew it was probably blood. It would make sense from the amount of pain he was in. It only made the situation more dire.

He laid motionless for a few minutes to conserve as much energy as possible to open his eyes. Thankfully, his lids complied this time. The absence of light in the room made it easier to open them without the sting of blinding light. But, unfortunately, what he did see was too dark and blurry to focus on. He could only make out small bursts of light and reflected metal surfaces.

_A ship?_

Wherever he crash-landed, it didn't look familiar- meaning he had to move quickly. Of course, quickly didn't describe his movements at the moment... or lack thereof. He would need to start out small and assess the damage his body was in.

He tried to turn his head just ever so slightly to look up, his raven hair fell in front of his face. But something else happened; something moved. A heavy weight around his neck shifted before it pulled him down hard. No energy to resist against its movements, his head went down with it. The movement only blurred his vision more and make the nausea increase. Something brass then obstructed his vision.

_The collar..._

He forgot he still had the collar and chains on. A fuzzy memory that wasn't quite pieced together well. Turning his head must have shifted his weight enough to have it pull him to the ground completely.

Another wave of pain erupted from his chest. This one felt as if his chest was getting ripped out of him. He groaned loudly and tried to take in a deep breath in hopes to calm the pain- big mistake. His lungs didn't like so much air in them and constructed tightly. His mind responded to the panic with coughing. The constant ins and outs of it only made it worse. Now it felt like he was repeatedly jabbing himself in the chest.

Without being able to get any air in or out, darkness crept into his vision. The panic and agony begged him to pass out- to just let go. The warmth of the blood pooling under him almost drew a level of comfort.

He couldn't move, hear, see, and now breathe. He was dying. His last moments would be remembered as running from fears and crash landing into an unknown location to bleed out. His lids became too heavy to keep open. It was no use; his vision went black. Pressing his head against the cold metal of the floor, he let them close.

Loki wasn't surprised that this was the way he'd go out...

To go out **alone**.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Drifting through what seems like the empty vacuum of space, was comforting. Quiet and out of pain, Loki seemed to almost be at peace. When was the last time he ever felt like this? To feel this peaceful and content with the present situation. He assumed never. Time was not a thing where he was. Who knows how long he's been here, been drifting- not like it mattered anyway.

A strange sensation started to stir around him. Like a storm brewing, Loki felt an intense pressure building. Before he could question it anymore, his whole body erupted in a surge of pain. It burned as it coursed through every nerve, every vein in his body. He tried to cry out in pain, but nothing came out. He prayed, begged, the Norns for it to stop.

Seconds after it started, it did stop. Loki still felt his body twitch even after the effect wore off. The pain never stopped, it stayed at a dull, steady pace. It, at least, made it easier for Loki to breath again.

Soft murmurs could be heard in the distance. They were so faint that Loki could barely hear them.

_A voice? _

He couldn't comprehend what it was saying, but it sounded in pain. The deep, gruff voice tugged at Loki's memory- he had heard this voice before. Unable to speak or open his eyes, he was locked in his shell of a body. Whosever voice this was, Loki knew they weren't a threat; in fact, he felt safer.

With another soft breath, Loki felt a pain his lungs spike. If he took shallow breaths, the pain was more manageable. He also started to feel hot. Whether it was him or something around, the presence of warmth was felt on his bare skin.

The voice said something again, this time it sounded more upset. Was it mad? Loki wasn't sure if he made the voice upset. His head started to grow dizzy as he could feel the world swirl around him. Something heavy was pulling on his body upon that movement but disappeared quickly. Loki wished he had the strength to open his eyes.

All of a sudden, he was being jostled around. The pain quickly came back, flooding his body. His short, painful breaths drew quicker with the movement. It seemed to go on for ages. At least, the familiar voice stayed with him. When the movement finally came to a stop, Loki was relieved. If he were more conscious, he would have thrown up by now.

Soft words whispered to him before he felt himself being laid on something soft. Loki couldn't remember the last time he felt something so soft.

Things started to become more of a blur. His head swam in and out of consciousness. Loki could have sworn he heard more voices... ones he didn't recognize. And then came the hands. They tugged, poked, and prodded at him all over. He didn't understand what they were doing... but it hurt. Begging the hands to go away, their hostility only became stronger. He wanted to scream at his body for not moving. The only hands that gave some relief were a set of warm ones. The callused fingers were rough to the touch and hurt, but the motions they did were soothing. They lightly rubbed his cheek and ran down his hair. It didn't take long for Loki to understand that that pair of hands came from the one familiar voice.

Loki wanted to talk, to understand what was going on. On his next breath, he tried to break the barrier of unconsciousness. Things went from bad to worse, suddenly Loki felt like he was drowning. His body was too weak to cough it out. Rough hands quickly held his shoulders while others pulled his head back. The pain shot up his neck, but he was only able to let out a strangled gurgle.

Before he knew it, his mouth was pried open and something was shoved down his throat. Loki gagged and twisted to the sensation, but the strong hands held him down. He felt his lungs start expanding on their own. It hurt too much and Loki fell deeper into the darkness.

Feeling like he was going through Hel and back, another surge of pain, stronger than the last burst through his chest. With something down his throat, he, once again, couldn't cry out. Loki begged just to die. He couldn't do it anymore. The voices he once assumed were good were only hurting him more. They grabbed him again and held him down. Loki didn't struggle under the grip, he just trembled.

Unlike the last time he passed out, Loki didn't notice this time as everything disappeared in an instant.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After six long hours, the surgery was deemed a success. Loki went from life-threatening to critical condition. Bruce was right, it was touch and go for a while. Three times they almost lost him. If it hadn't been for Thor's lightning initially, the outcome might have been different.

During the surgery, Bruce was able to retrieve all the broken ribs and screw them back in place. Both lungs were collapsed so tubes had to be inserted to draw out blood and excess air in the chest cavity. The doctor literally felt like he was piecing the god back together. They all collectively decided to wait until tomorrow to remove the chains- in hopes he will be more stable by then. Overall, Loki was alive- hidden somewhere under the mess of chains, wires, tubes, and bandages- but alive.

Bruce and the others peeled away their bloody scrubs and immediately collapsed into the nearest chairs. It wasn't until two in the morning when Bruce finally considered their work done. It's hard for them to believe that it hasn't even been a full day since they found Loki in Tony's lab. In the end, they sat in silence for a long time, trying to comprehend all that's happened today.

Neither Tony, Clint, nor Natasha every came within this timespan to check-in. Not necessary just for Loki, but the other three Avengers as well. Bruce was quite hurt by the strong divide within teammates; all of this because of Loki. Knowing that he just saved a homicidal maniac left a sour taste in his mouth. Bruce knew how much this all meant to Thor, so he lived off of that feeling instead.

"You guys go to bed, I'll stay here." Bruce broke the silence. He could see both the men fighting to stay awake as they slumped over in their chairs.

Thor, surprised by the doctor's comment, sat up in the chair. The blonde wasn't planning on going anywhere. Why would he? Loki may be alive, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.

"I am not leaving my brother while he is still gravely injured," Thor stated as he stood up from his chair. His voice sounded a little offended by Bruce's offer.

Bruce, of course, saw that coming a mile away. He was more directing the comment at Steve, more than anybody. Obviously, Thor's not going to leave his brother's side and Bruce wasn't going to pry the guy off Loki's bedside.

Steve tried to blink the exhaustion out of his eyes. He badly wanted to listen to Bruce and go to bed. Once again, conflict grew inside of him.

"I think you're the one that should rest." Steve said, "You look like you're going to fall over on the spot."

That was a fact. Under the doctor's glasses were tired eyes. Coupled with his disheveled clothes, Bruce looked ready to topple over. He slumped over in the chair, legs splayed out, and sighed.

"I just don't feel comfortable leaving him yet…" Bruce glanced in Loki's direction, "I mean, he was dead less than a day ago."

Steve gave a tired smile and stood up. He admired Banner's devotion to his work. If he was going to stay, Steve knew the solution. There was a closet in the far corner of the room that housed spare sheets and towels. Not long ago, when he had to rush to grab towels, he noticed a foldable cot slid under the bottom shelf. The Captain pulled it out and sprung it open. Not paying attention to Bruce's reaction, he quickly there some sheets on it and pretended to pat the dirt off his hands.

"There," Steve stated, "Now get some rest."

Bruce sat frozen, surprised at his teammate's firm, but soft command. He tried to open his mouth to protest, but Steve was on him.

"Listen. You're not going to of use to anyone if you're passed out on the floor."

Trying again to decline, Bruce was stopped by big hands slipping under his arms and lifted him up. He yelped in response.

"Friend Banner," Thor pulled the doctor up into his arms and walked towards the cot, "If you do not rest, you will have to answer to Mjolnir."

The god roughly dropped Bruce onto the cot and threw a blanket over his head.

"Hey!" Bruce grunted as he pulled the sheet off his head, losing his glasses in the process.

Thor just shrugged and pulled his own chair closer to Loki's bed. The blonde looked back and gave Steve a reassuring nod. The Captain immediately understood that Thor had the situation handled, so he can take his leave.

"Just call me if you need anything." Steve walked to the infirmary door.

"Thank you," Thor replied softly.

Steve gave a weary smirk and eagerly headed up to bed. He decided to wait until morning before he briefed the other Avengers on the situation- they can wait.

Once the Captain turned the corner, the room fell into silence. Bruce fumbled with the sheets before letting out an unintentional yawn. He drew up his hands and rubbed his palms into his eyes. The doctor promised himself he will only rest for an hour or so.

Laying back into the blankets, he looked over to Thor. The god was sitting in the chair, but his upper body was slumped over onto Loki's bedside. He already had passed out. Bruce couldn't help but notice Thor's hand extended out and lightly held his brother's.

Banner smiled at the two. Another yawn escaped his lips as he allowed his eyes to close.

_Just for a few hours…_ He thought.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(2 weeks later)

Loki felt as if he was being dragged from the burning grip of Hel; sensations came back and consciousness sparked. Of course, with it all, the pained returned. His eyes still refused to budge, and his body felt as if it was weighted down by Mjolnir. Whatever was shoved down his throat was still there.

He laid there for a considerable amount of time, listening to the rhythmic beeping noises around him; it grew annoying real fast. It was finally disturbed by something shuffling. Loki would tense up if his body wasn't already paralyzed. The sounds increased as it drew closer.

With his energy fading quickly, Loki struggled to stay semi-conscious with the presence close. Something then tugged at his chest, thankfully lightly as a small amount of pain came with it. When Loki thought it was over, the pain slowly increased. Whatever it was was hurting him- intentionally?

The hands did something and caused an explosion of agony. It was strong enough for his face to twist in pain. The incessant beeping increased in speed. The hands quickly left, and a voice murmured something.

Before Loki could sense anything more, darkness hit him like a brick wall.

So then, thorough out the next few days… weeks…Loki faded in and out of consciousness. It was like a never-ending nightmare. He'd wake up in tremendous amounts of pain, hands would touch him, voices would whisper, then he'd fall back into the darkness.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thor was a wreck. Every day he'd sit at his brother's side holding his hand, comforting him, and making sure he wasn't in any pain. The older brother barely slept or ate. He would refuse missions, selfishly focusing only on Loki.

He began to worry his brother would never wake up. Bruce was apprehensive to give out too many details of Loki's progress. He assumed it wasn't looking good. Thor still felt forever in debt to him for all he's done. Bruce came by multiple times a day to check on his brother's condition. He spent a considerable amount of time taking care of Loki: his brother needed his bandages changed daily and have ointments applied to all the burns; constant monitoring of his oxygen levels, heart rate, and blood pressure; as well as, re-administering fluids and medications.

Countless times Thor would beg to have him remove the chains. Each time Bruce would remind him that Loki was too critical to attempt it. The doctor assured him when Loki wakes up and can breathe on his own, then they can try to remove them.

"Oh, Loki… brother…" Thor sighed, staring at his bother's pale face and lightly squeezed his hand, "Can you give me any sign that you are still with me?"

A twitch was felt in between Thor's clasped hands. He couldn't tell if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, or it was actually Loki.

"Loki?!" The older brother jumped from his seat and hovered over him.

Another twitch came- it was Loki! After weeks and weeks, a smile spread across Thor's face. His brother was alive, and he could hear him.

"Brother," Thor pleaded, "Please open your eyes."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Brother…_

Loki's consciousness sparked. Never had a voice sounded so clear before.

…_please open your eyes!_

It was easier said than done, Loki thought. He lost track of how many times he's tried. Why was something as simple as opening your eyes been such a challenge? He desperately wanted to open them; Loki could just never do it.

Becoming more and more aware of his surroundings, he could still feel the collar around his neck, something down his throat, and pain. He managed his eyes to screw shut even more as he contorted in agony.

_Brother?_

It was that voice again. Maybe today would be the day he could open his eyes and see this voice. Some days Loki loved the voice, other times he just wished it would shut up and go away. Nonetheless, he wanted to listen to the voice's pleas.

So, Loki tried and tried again. He fought the darkness with everything he could. The void wrapped around him tight, pulling him down. It felt like he was being dragged underwater. His senses and the voices would start to fade as it dove him deeper. Loki could see the waters surface above; it was calling to him.

_Loki_.

No. He wouldn't let the darkness pull him under again. Whatever amount of time he's been down there was enough. As inviting as it was to wrap in the painless, dark blanket of unconsciousness, Loki couldn't stay there forever.

So, he swam. He swam as hard as he could against the hold of the void. The voice wouldn't stop calling him. Loki wanted to be with it, to see its owner. The pulling hold on him weakened as he fought. The surface was getting closer. Loki stretched his arm out as he reached for the top. When his fingers broke through the surface, the darkness hold disappeared immediately.

He now had the strength to open his eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thor never stopped calling to him- he had to. After he felt Loki's hand twitch and expression change, he knew his brother was fighting to wake up. His calls were loud enough that JARVIS alerted Bruce of the commotion.

"What?!" Bruce dashed into the room, "What's wrong?! What's happening."

The doctor paused when he saw Thor sitting next to his sleeping brother. Realizing the situation wasn't serious, he relaxed a little. Bruce walked up to the bedside and noticed Thor was whispering to Loki.

"Umm, Thor?"

The god snapped out of his trance and turned to see Bruce.

"JARVIS told me you seemed upset…?" Bruce asked awkwardly.

Thor smiled- actually smiled. This surprised Bruce greatly.

"Loki," Thor beamed, "he squeezed my hand!"

The doctor raised his eyebrows, shocked that Loki supposedly moved. He knew gods healed faster than humans but, at the same time, Thor said for some reason Loki was healing slow. For whatever reason, he was surprised the god responded only after a few weeks. Especially after the condition he came to them in.

Bruce scooted in closer to be right next to Thor.

"Loki?" He called, "Can you give me a sign that you're awake?"

Seconds went by with no sign from Loki. Bruce considered that maybe Thor thought he felt something but really didn't. Unconsciously Thor may have been so hellbent on Loki waking up and imagined the whole thing. But he was proven wrong when Loki's brows knitted together. His face started to contort in a mixture of pain and confusion.

"Good, good," Bruce said, "Can you open your eyes for me now?"

As Bruce said this, he realized that Loki was awake. Loki, the God of Mischief… the same god that killed thousands of people a few years ago. The one that tried to murder all of them and almost succeeded. This was the same man that was lying on the bed in front of him. Bruce was a little relieved that they haven't taken off the chains yet. Who knows how he'll react when he wakes up. Although he highly doubted the god could even move, the doctor didn't want to risk it.

Bruce took a few steps back for good measure and Thor moved into his place. It was for the best that Thor should be the first one Loki sees, that is if he could find the strength to open his eyes.

It didn't take long for those questions to be answered as a flash of green peeking out from under his lids. The eyes quickly drew closed, then blinked slowly as he tried to focus. Loki could only make out two blurry shapes above him.

"Loki!"

Loki immediately recognized that voice. It's the same one that's been with him all along. It came from the fuzzy figure on the right. Whoever it was, they held his hand with those familiar large, warm hands. Loki cursed his poor vision. It took forever to make out the person. All he could tell is they had long blonde hair and a red shirt.

…_Thor?_

He wasn't sure. Could that be Thor? He hasn't seen his brother in… Loki couldn't finish that thought. He didn't know the last time he saw Thor. His memories evaded him. All he knew was that he was Loki and that he was looking up at two people- that's it. There must have been more, but he couldn't remember.

Loki decided the best way to know if its really his brother was to ask him. He went to say something, but nothing came out. Then he realized, that object from before. He remembered something was snaked down his throat. Loki's eyes screwed shut as he let out a strangled gurgle against the tube. He was too weak to lift his arms to pull it out. Turning his head just a little made the pain explode. Loki tried to cry out again. He was so confused. Thor was here. Why would Thor allow this to happen to him?

"Loki, Loki!" Bruce panicked, "I need you to calm down!"

Loki wanted to curse the unfamiliar voice.

_Calm down?! You try having some contraption shoved down your throat! _

He could barely arch his back before falling back down in pain. All the movements caused machines to beep faster and louder. This only sent Loki into more of a panic.

"Brother!"

It was the voice- Thor's voice. Hazy, frantic eyes searched for him. Why wasn't his brother helping him? Loki couldn't tell if he was choking or dying. Everything hurt, his head swam, and it wasn't getting any better.

Bruce could see Loki start to fight the ventilator. The machine started to beep rapidly as the oxygen flow was being compromised. Now the device wasn't helping anymore but hurting him. Thor tried to hold his brother down to prevent him from injuring himself further.

"Thor," Bruce said, "I think I need to take out the tube."

Thor was shocked by Bruce's decision.

"But does he not need that to breathe?!"

The doctor couldn't say. There's always a chance he could extubate Loki too early. The ventilator wasn't doing him any good. It was a last-ditch effort.

"He might," he said, "If it comes to that, I'll just put it back in.

Thor seemed apprehensive to agree with it. Bruce just assured him that it would be hard to intubate him again. He tentatively agreed; only because of the doctor's confident tone. Thor stood by and was ready to assist.

Loki, however, had no clue what was going on. The voices continued talking as he struggled to breath. One held him down as they both mumbled to each other. He was on the verge of passing out again, but the unfamiliar voice grew louder.

"Loki," Bruce called, "I'm going to take this out of your throat, okay? Don't freak out."

_Oh__,__ Norns! Yes, please, take it out!_

The doctor gave a curt nod to Thor and removed the elastic band around the back of Loki's neck. Once the mouthpiece was removed, he could focus on the tube. Bruce would have to pull it in one steady motion to make sure it doesn't injure Loki on the way out. Pulling it to roughly may tear his esophagus. Thor kept his hands on his brother's shoulders to help keep him still.

"Alright…" Bruce drew a breath, "Three… two… one…"

With a gentle pull, the tube started to snake its way out of Loki's throat. It was painfully uncomfortable for Loki as he gagged at the motion. His eyes stayed screwed shut as he tried to not cry. Thor held him in place. The older brother didn't even want to watch the process. It horrified him of how long the tube was.

Once it was completely removed, Bruce noticed the edge of the tube was tinged with blood. He realized his lungs were still healing from the damage. Bruce set it down and turned back to Loki immediately as he heard weak coughs. His initial fear of the god subsided as the god at least was breathing- even if it was struggled.

"That's it," Bruce coached leaning down for Loki to hear, "just keep coughing. It will help."

Loki didn't have the energy- or cognitive ability- to deny the voice. If it said it will help him, then he wanted to do it. It wasn't an easy task as his lungs were weak from lack of exercise. Each cough was nothing more than a throaty gurgle.

The sound the god made wasn't good. Bruce grabbed his stethoscope to try to listen in. Loki's lungs sounded absolutely horrible. He now started to reconsider taking him off the ventilator.

Thor had already let go of Loki but hovered close. It pained him to see Loki like this… so fragile. With no medical expertise, he felt like his help was at a standstill.

"Is he okay?!" Thor's voice wavered between confusion and panic.

Bruce kept the stethoscope on Loki. He could hear the movement of fluid in the god's lungs. Maybe coughing could help loosen up whatever's in there and he could cough it out. The only thing was in a laying position it would prove to be difficult.

"I don't know. Let me try something."

Risking Loki's other injuries, Bruce carefully cupped his patient's shoulder and slightly leaned him over to his right side. He hoped this new position will help open up his airways a little more. The doctor then placed the stethoscope on his Loki's back to get a better listen.

"That's it, keep coughing," Bruce tried to encouraged Loki into it. He didn't even know if Loki could even hear him.

Bruce continued to hold him on his side as Thor looked on, confused. The older god was standing up, hunched over the bed, ready to spring in at a minute's notice. He was afraid to do anything now since Banner looked like he had things- to the most part- under control.

The new position actually did help. Loki was finally able to cough out a mixture of old and new blood. It wasn't a substantial amount, but it dribbled down his chin and on Bruce's arm. With his lungs cleared, Loki was able to take a shaky breath. His eyes were still glossy, but the panic in them seemed to subside a little.

Bruce was rather shocked by the amount of blood that came out that now covered him and his patient. The symptoms of both old and new blood weren't the best sign. He would have to get to the bottom of this later.

Before he could ask, Thor was already by his side with some washcloths. Bruce gently laid Loki down onto his back again. His breathing still shaky and uneven. So, Bruce quickly used a towel to wipe the blood off his arm before heading over to fiddle with a nearby machine. Thor stayed at Loki's side tried to clean the blood off his face the best he could.

"Loki, brother…" Thor leaned in, "Are you well? Please tell me what I can do to help you."

Loki didn't respond; his mind wasn't completely there. All his energy was focused on trying to breath, which proved to be very difficult. Every other gulp of air, he would wheeze a little before letting off a weak cough. It was a painful and draining process for Loki to repeat.

"Banner," Thor turned to his friend panicked, "he isn't breathing well!"

Bruce was already on it as he rolled up a small machine. He held a clear, bowl-shaped object in his hand. It had a tube extending out of it and into the machine. Bruce stretched out the rubber band attached to each side and cupped over Loki's mouth and nose. The elastic was used to hold it in place as it was wrapped around the back of Loki's head. All the doctor had to do was flip a switch for the machine to buzz to life.

"This is an oxygen mask," he explained, gesturing to the device around Loki's face, "this will help him breathe without having to put the tube down his throat. We just need to monitor him closely to make sure he continues to breathe on his own."

Thor didn't like all these Midgardian devices. They were loud and cumbersome. If only Loki was stable enough to take to Asgard. The healers there could maybe help him more… but then Thor remembered about Loki's bad reputation. They would just throw him in the dungeons as soon as he was deemed well enough.

Loki didn't quite know what to think of whatever device was on him. He was thoroughly exhausted from the events. Everything in the room seemed to spin. It felt better to just keep his eyes closed. The cool air that hit his face was oddly soothing. Loki soon found it easier to breathe- be it the pain was still there. As soon as the panic seemed to fade, his body deemed itself stable enough to fall asleep. Loki didn't have a choice in the matter. His body was spent from all the exertion. Darkness blanketed his mind as he passed out.

All the machines in the room suddenly became quieter. Each one indicated a more normal function. Bruce sighed in relief at the sight. If Loki fell asleep, that means he was able to breathe decently. This all was another positive sign towards the god's recovery. Loki still had a far ways to go. Two weeks ago, Bruce never thought this would even happen. He was sure then and there at Loki's arrival that he would die.

_These guys aren't called gods for nothing… _Bruce thought.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Next Chapter:** Break My Binds

_Word Count: 5,330_

_Updated On: 10-6-19_

_Posted On: 10-6-19_


	5. Break My Binds

**Chapter 5:** Break My Binds

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After a few hours of careful watch, Loki proved he could breathe on his own without the tube; however, he still heavily relied on the oxygen mask. Before they could ask Loki any questions, he passed out from exhaustion not long after the tube was removed. He's been out ever since. Until then, both Bruce and Thor continued to keep an eye on him in case he wakes up again.

Upon discovery, Bruce realized the chains around Loki's neck were compromising his breathing. Although still reluctant to whether or not his patient was stable enough, he came to the conclusion it must be done. The only thing was that he didn't have any tools strong enough to try to break the chains. The only solution was to ask Tony. Bruce knew this was going to be hard.

Thor volunteered to stay behind with Loki while Bruce went to convince the mechanic to borrow some of his tools. He approached the door to Tony's lab, anxious whether or not this was a good idea. His lab was slowly coming back together after the "Loki incident". Fixing the supporting structures wasn't the problem, it was all of Tony's work that got destroyed in the explosion. Easy to say, Tony was pissed. Thankfully, most of his computer work was saved on a separate server that didn't get broken. All the physical projects, however, were obliterated.

"Hey Tony," Bruce lightly rapped on the doorframe, "um…mind if I come in?"

Tony was sitting at his desk with his back to Bruce. A welder's mask was covering his face as he soldered Dumb-E back together. He stopped and swiveled around to the sound of his friend's timid voice.

"Yo Brucie, what's up?" Tony lifted his mask and smirked, "Here to help me get this hunk-o-junk back in action?"

"Umm no, sorry. I actually…" the doctor scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I actually wanted to ask you a favor… if that's alright?"

"Sure, buddy! Shoot!"

"Well, it's about Loki…"

Tony's expressions changed in an instant. His smirk vanished and was replaced with a scowl. 'Loki' was a strong trigger word for him.

"So… you just came only to ask a favor for your _precious_ patient?"

Bruce couldn't help but wince at that name "precious patient".Clearly, Tony still hasn't forgiven him for saving Loki. He couldn't blame him; the god doesn't exactly have the best reputation around here.

"No, I came to check on you too!" Bruce backpedaled, "I know you've been here a lot and stressed and all so I-"

Tony muttered something under his breath. He was tired of Bruce's devotion to his "little patient". It's been weeks and the guy barely goes a few hours without talking about him. Tony wished he refused to let the god stay here in the first place. Things would have been less tense around here if he wasn't around. Right now, there was an obvious split between opinions. Tony, Clint, and Natasha were all for throwing Loki in an alley to die. Bruce and Thor… clearly weren't. Now Steve was hard to read. He seemed to lean towards Bruce and Thor, but still shows signs of hesitancy.

"Cut the theatrics," Stark groaned. He squeezed the bridge of his nose to ease the growing headache, "Just… what do you want?"

"… sorry," Bruce apologized awkwardly, "So, we were able to get Loki off the ventilator today."

Tony leaned back in his chair and kicked his legs up on the table. He gave off the impression that whatever Bruce says, he doesn't want to hear it.

"And I should care because…?" he cocked his eyebrow.

"Well, now that it's not breathing for him. The chains are kinda… well making it hard for him to breathe independently. So, I thought we could just remove the-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let me get this straight," Tony sat up straight and held up his hand to stop Bruce, "You want **me** to help you **free** this megalomaniac."

Bruce had no idea how to respond to it. Tony was always so good at being blunt.

_God, when he puts it that way…_

Tony aggressively swiveled the chair around to go back to his work, "Welp, sorry. No can do!"

"But-but he could suffocate an-"

"When have I **ever** shown any concern for that asshole's well-being?!"

"He's bed-bound! Loki couldn't hurt a fly!"

Tony swung his seat back to face Bruce. He looked pissed. He was definitely fed up with his friend constantly defending this lunatic. Bed-bound or not, this was Loki we're talking about.

"But what happens when he gets better, huh?!" Tony yelled, "We're just gonna put a leash on him and stick'em out in the yard?"

"No... of course not."

"Well, how are you going to make sure Loki doesn't go on a killing spree once he can walk?!"

Bruce paused, "We'll figure out something…"

Honestly, Bruce never thought that far ahead. The doctor has been so focused on keeping Loki alive. Bruce forgot about the "violent tendencies" he had. But keeping him in chains could very well due him in. It's hard for him to remember Loki's true colors when he's up in the sickbay out cold.

"Well, until you _figure it out_," Tony said, "the chains are staying put."

"We can't just stop helping him now!" Bruce countered.

"And why not?!"

"How are you going to explain that to Thor!?"

Tony snide expression faded into a fearful one. How could they possibly tell Thor that they don't want to help his brother anymore… you can't. Well, technically you could, but not without getting their heads bludgeoned in by his hammer.

He let out a string of curses and abruptly stood up. Leaving his project behind, Tony walked over to his workbench and started to dig around. He mumbled how much he hated these gods and their endless drama.

"The only reason I'm doing this is so Point Break up there doesn't kill me!"

Bruce didn't say a word while Tony shuffled through the drawers. He wondered if the mechanic even had a tool powerful enough to break the chains. Clearly, if they can keep Loki bound, they must be strong. If they could be broken, Thor would've done it by now.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thor stayed at Loki's side while Bruce went to fetch tools. Terrified of the collar crushing his brother's windpipe, he held it up a little so it wasn't pressing against his neck. He wondered how long this has been on Loki; that, and who put it on?

The door to the room opened, alerting Thor of their presence. Both Tony and Bruce came walking in. Tony carried a massive circular blade in his hands.

Knowing Tony wasn't exactly a fan of Loki, -and the giant weapon he was holding- Thor gave an almost feral growl as he stood in between him and his brother. The look itself made Stark freeze in his tracks.

"Whoa, buddy! Calm down!" Tony took a few steps back for good measure.

Bruce quickly read the situation and stood in front of Tony protectively. This could end badly, fast. Thor's face switched to confusion as the doctor protected Tony.

"Thor, Thor, it's ok!" Bruce held up his hands, "Tony brought this to get the chains off of Loki."

Not quite believing it, Thor's stare darted back to Stark. His piercing blue eyes made the hairs on the back of Tony's neck stand up. Thor was trying to read his face. The god didn't dare move from his spot in front of Loki.

"How do I know you will not slay him once I move?" Thor growled.

Tony scoffed- probably not the best move, "I may be an asshole, but I'm no Texas chainsaw murderer."

Unsure of Thor's reaction, Bruce wanted to clarify Tony's words. Sometimes he wonders if Tony really wants to be beaten up, or he's just that stupid.

"He promised he'd help, Thor."

"But on **one** condition!" Tony interjected.

Thor didn't respond but continued to eye them cautiously. There was a trade-off here. He didn't like the idea of making negotiations with his brother's life.

"The condition," Tony said, "Is that once he wakes up, and shows **any** sort of hostility, we're tying him back up."

He let Thor stew over the terms before saying anything else. There's no way that Tony would let Loki walk freely around the place, no matter how beat up he is. The guy, like said before, was crazier than a bag of cats.

"Very well," Thor agreed to everyone's surprise, "But **only** if he proves himself untrustworthy."

Tony nodded pleased, "Deal."

Thor's posture relaxed from its tense position over Loki. Still not leaving his side, the blonde allowed them access. Tony took a second before approaching. He felt the large god watching him like a hawk. Any off movements might send the billionaire crashing into the adjacent wall. Before making it to the bedside, he decided it was best to place his tool down on the floor, signifying that he meant no harm. It's been a long time since Tony's even seen Loki, so he was terrified to be so close. Within arm's length of the sleeping god, he looked down at him.

_Wow, he looks worse in person…_

Since he never wanted to actually go down into the infirmary, Tony kept tabs on his alien houseguest from security cameras in the room. Even though his video equipment is of the highest quality, it couldn't capture the true horror of Loki's physical state. The god was still wrapped up like a mummy in bandages, and the bruising was still there. The only new thing was the ventilator tube was gone and replaced with an oxygen mask. The painstaking slow rise and fall of Loki's chest made him realize how urgent the situation was.

"Can you remove it, Stark?" Thor asked, concerned that even his genius friend may not know how to free his little brother.

Tony didn't know exactly what he was getting into. He wanted to inspect the chains further, but the very thought of touching Loki scared him. The last time he made contact with the god was when he was being hurled out the window years ago. The recollection almost made him shudder. He was saved from his thoughts by Bruce appearing next to him. The doctor reached out and struggled to pick up a string of chains. From his movements, Tony could tell they were heavy.

"This metal isn't like anything on Earth," Bruce explained, "I've tried to chip off a piece to examine it, but it's solid."

Curious, Tony extended out his hands to hold the chains for himself. Bruce handed them off to Tony. The weight of the binds shifted from the doctor's hands to his. The dense metal was deceivingly heavy; he almost dropped it. Each link of the chain was at least five inches thick; the collar and the binds on his wrists and ankles were even more.

Bruce turned to Thor, "I gave Loki a light sedation to make sure this doesn't stress him out."

"Thank you, Banner," The god gave a very slight, but grateful smile back.

"Yeah," Tony butted in, "It also keeps him still, so I don't accidentally cut his head off.

"Tony!" Bruce scolded immediately. He could see Thor's horrified expression next to him.

"He's joking, Thor…" Bruce assured. The god clearly didn't appreciate the 'joke'.

Tony went back and picked up the saw. This was one of his strongest ones. He used it frequently when cutting other metals. How hard could they be?

"Well," Tony yelled, startling everyone by revving up the machine, "Let's see how tough this stuff really is!"

They pulled up a small side table and laid a string of chains over it. There was no way they could do it on the bed. Luckily, the chains were long enough to drape over the table without pulling Loki off the bed. Bruce and Thor held each side of the chains in place as Tony started to press the blade down. It made an ear-piercing screeching noise as metal ground on metal. Bruce wished he could slap his hands over his ears. He tried to yell something at Tony, but it was lost over the noise. The chain links never yielded to the saw and held strong. This made Tony only push down harder.

Suddenly, the saw blade shattered, sending metal bits shooting across the room. Thankfully, everyone was able to dodge it before anyone got hurt.

Tony held up his broken blade.

"Well, fuck…"

Everyone glanced down at the chains to see what the damage was. To their surprise, the links looked pristine- not a single scratch on them.

"This is going to be harder than I thought…" Bruce sighed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Dammit!"

Another saw blade snapped against the chains. That was the fifth blade he tried. Whether it was a diamond-tipped drill or a cheap wood saw, nothing could touch these chains. Tony went back and forth between different tools and mediums: welders torches, drills, even a jackhammer. He was running out of tools… and patience.

"This shit is strong!" Tony cursed, tossing his destroyed saw into the growing pile of his- now ruined- tools.

He looked over a Thor.

"You sure that magic hammer of yours can't dent this thing?!"

Thor shook his head, "It seems whoever forged these, made them strong against Asgardian metals alone."

Rubbing his temples, Tony was about to give up. When it came to anything mechanical or engineering on Earth, he was the guy to go to. Space metals, on the other hand, weren't exactly Tony's expertise.

"Well, what about Iron Man?" Bruce asked.

"What about Iron Man?!" Tony repeated back, not seeing where this is going.

"Don't tell me you don't have some weapon in your suit that might be able to break through these…"

Tony has to think about it for a minute. Iron Man had so many weapons built into it; the list went on and on. His mind scanned through everyone to try to find a way he could use them to break the chains. Of course, all his latest gadgets were all destroyed- thanks to the God of Mischief himself. His old MARK III version Iron Man would be the only option.

Then, finally, Tony had an idea.

"I think I'm onto something," he turned and headed out the door, "be right back."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tony came back after a few minutes with his Iron Man gauntlet. He slid on the glove and had it project a screen for him to type on. Hovering the glove over the chains to scan it, Tony took the reading and started typing. Both Thor and Bruce looked over his shoulders curiously. Neither one understood exactly what was going on in the mechanic's head.

"Are you planning on clueing us in at all?" Bruce asked, a little annoyed. It was his patient after all.

"Okay, fine," Tony rolled his eyes, "it's nothing fancy, but I'm thinking of freezing it. That will make the molecular structure of it to become brittle…"

He then gestured to Thor, "Then Sparky here comes in with 'mew mew', or whatever he calls it…"

"Mjolnir," Thor corrected.

"Yeah sure, whatever. You come in with 'mewl-neer' and give it the old thunder smash and, hopefully, it will break it… in theory."

"Sounds possible," Bruce said rubbing his chin, "but wouldn't the metal conduct the electricity of the hammer?"

Tony rolled his eyes for the millionth time.

"Geeze, Bruce! Yee of little faith! That's what I did when I scanned it. From what I got out of it; this stuff is non-conductive."

Bruce seemed convinced enough. It was an odd way to try it, but they were running out of options. That, and they needed to get this off of Loki fast. Thankfully, he was still sedated.

"Well, Thor," Bruce turned to the Thor, "what do you think?"

Thor didn't look back at Bruce but looked at his brother. Still asleep with the oxygen mask, Loki looked so fragile. The rise and fall of his chest was slow. He obviously didn't like the idea of smashing the chains with Mjolnir. Even still, Thor still didn't fully trust Tony, but what else could he do.

"Very well," Thor gave his consent, "I do not like this at all, but I see no other way."

The blonde, hesitant, reached to unclip the hammer off his belt. He looked to Stark for instructions. Tony was busy typing various functions on the gauntlets screen. The glove started to respond to its commands. Different panels on it started to shift around. On the gloves index finger, the armor pulled back to reveal, what looked like, a small laser pointer. Tony flexed his hand a little inside the glove to make sure it was properly set.

"Alright, Sparky," Tony said, turning back to Thor to make sure he heard him, "on my signal, hit the chain right on the frozen portion I make."

Tony didn't even wait for the god to respond; he turned back around and adjusted the chains. He wanted to make sure it was just right before starting.

"Wait!" Thor interrupted, "I changed my mind."

Tony stopped before the nozzle could spray the freezing agent. He turned to Thor, looking rather annoyed. He already didn't want to be here and, by "didn't want to", he **really** didn't want to be doing **this**!

"Jeez, I'll put it on a low setting," he scoffed, "don't get your panties in a twist!"

Turning his attention back to the chain, Tony slowly started to bring the nozzle up again.

"Wait!" Bruce was now the one to halt the process.

"Goddamnit, Bruce!" Tony shouted, pulling his hand away again, "What now?! You want me to do this or not?!"

Bruce shrunk back a little at Tony's volume.

"S-sorry," he apologized, "It's just that if you have Thor slam into those chains, it's going to shatter the table you have it on. That might affect the force of the blow. Here hold on-"

Running out of the infirmary, Bruce disappeared into the halls. This left Tony and Thor waiting awkwardly. After a few minutes, he came back lugging a heavy, metal plate. Bruce put it down on the floor next to their makeshift workstation.

"This will help," Bruce said. He was panting from having to run back carting the dense sheet metal.

The other two agreed and rearranged their set up. Now they had the metal plate laid out on the floor with the string of chains over it. Tony had to admit this was better. The last thing he wants to do is destroy any more of his stuff.

"Ok, does anyone else have anything they need to say before we do this?" Tony looked at the two, annoyed, "because I ain't stopping this time!"

Both shook their heads and allowed him to start. For the third time, Tony put on the Iron Man glove and reset the liquid nitrogen. He brought it very slowly to the chainlink he chose to freeze. Tony wanted to make sure he kept his aim and steady as possible.

Once he touched the glove to the metal, an icy frost scattered across its surface. Tony kept his hand still and allowed it to thoroughly freeze the area. Bruce and Thor were on standby. The thunder god readjusted his grip on his hammer.

Not letting his finger move from the spot, Tony called back to Thor.

"The second I pull this away, you got to hit it. Any hesitation and the metal will start to thaw. Got it?"

"Aye," Thor nodded and raised Mjolnir.

Bruce took a few steps back for good measure. Who knows what kind of elemental reaction might come of doing this. They could very well all be in danger.

"On the count of three," Tony said.

"One…" Not letting go, he repositioned himself so he could jump out of the way after the countdown.

"Two…"

Thor gripped Mjolnir tighter. Sparks were already buzzing around the surface of the hammer.

"Three!"

Tony pulled back the glove and dove out of the way. He escaped just in time to dodge the hammer coming down with full force. Both Tony and Bruce could feel the static in the air from Thor's power. Surprisingly, the impact wasn't as ear-shattering as both expected.

A powder of icy frost filled the room along with a gust of cold air. At first, no one could see if it worked or not. It took a few seconds for all to settle. Thor stood frozen in place. He was worried to pull the hammer away and see that it didn't work. But before he did, Thor- all three of them- looked at Loki. A rush of relief came to see Loki still asleep and in one piece, completely unaffected and unaware of anything going on.

"Did it work?" Bruce finally broke the silence.

Taking a deep breath, Thor slowly pulled away Mjolnir. Beneath it laid the shatter remains of the chains. The metal was ground down into a fine dust.

"It worked!" Thor exclaimed pure joy filled his words.

Tony was still half sprawled on the ground from dodging Thor's swing. His eyes widened at the fact his plan actually worked. The chains were pretty much obliterated on impact.

With that, they proceeded forward with removing the chains. Tony had soon learned that just a good zap from Mjolnir would yield the same result as smashing it. It came in handy on getting the wrist and ankle cuffs. They took their time on those since they were in direct contact with Loki's skin. With each zap of lighting, Bruce constantly monitored Loki's vitals for any changes.

The processed seemed to go very well. All the chains and cuffs were removed effortlessly. The only thing left was the collar. Pausing for a moment, Bruce wanted to quickly clean and treat the wounds on Loki's wrists and ankles. Where the metal contacted his skin was a gruesome black. The flesh was charred for some reason. Whatever these binds were intended for, they were more than just to restrain him. They clearly used to control him.

Once sterilized and securely wrapped, they were able to turn their attention to the last piece. The collar was the thickest out of all the pieces. It engulfed Loki's thin neck. You could still see the same charred skin peeking out where it touched his skin.

"This is going to be harder," Tony muttered as he pulled off the glove to get a better inspection of the collar.

Still asleep, Tony still didn't want to get any closer to Loki. Every second he helped the god, he regretted it. What he was doing was not of his own free will. Stuck between Thor and Bruce, Tony- unfortunately- had to go along with their plans.

Since Tony seemed hesitant to move in to inspect the collar, Bruce decided to do so. He carefully felt along the collars surface, not to accidentally hit Loki's oxygen mask. It was very smooth other than the odd engravings that were etched into its edges.

"These symbols are foreign to me," Thor spoke as he watched Bruce, "I do not know of where they come from."

Bruce knit his brows in thought. Without any idea of what they are or who made them, how were they supposed to get this collar off? It was too risky to try their freezing technique so close to Loki's neck. There must be some other way. Bruce continued to probe around the device. When he got near the back, he carefully brushed Loki's hair out of the way. Not wanting to have to maneuver the god around, Bruce decided to just slip his fingers between the collar and the pillow. He had to use only his sense of touch to feel for any faults in the metal.

"Do you notice anything, Banner?" Thor asked anxiously.

Bruce was about to respond, but his fingers brushed past a divot in the back. It felt different from the ones made by the engravings.

"There's something here," Bruce said, "the only thing is that it's in the back."

"Then just roll him onto his side," Tony pointed out wanting to speed things up.

Of course, the doctor already considered that, but Loki was too critical to move. Anything might compromise his breathing. That, and not wanting to put any more pressure on Loki's ribs.

"We can't," Bruce said, "he's too fragile."

He tried to think of another way to work around it. Testing its mobility, Bruce slightly rotated it around the god's neck.

"I think I can spin it," he said, then turned to Thor, "can you elevate him just enough for me to rotate it better?"

Thor stared nervously at his brother. He was terrified to touch him. So small and fragile, he worried that any movement might hurt him. But… there was no option.

"…okay," Thor replied hesitantly.

The god held his breath while Bruce instructed him where to do it. He carefully pushed his fingers under Loki's shoulders and head. Thor raised his brother up no more than an inch. Bruce swept in and tediously rotated it, so the collar was on backwards. Thor immediately laid Loki back down as soon as possible.

As Bruce predicted, there was a hole in the collar. There was no doubt it was some type of keyhole.

"Well, obviously we don't have the key…" Bruce sighed.

Tony stood there watching the two sulk. His guilty conscious started to weigh on him.

"Ugh, fine!" Tony moaned, "I might as well not stop now."

He mumbled more to himself as he put back on the gloved. Typing in a few more codes, the gauntlet- once again- whirled to life. The liquid nitrogen nozzle on the tip of his finger was replaced with a mini torch. Tony nudged Bruce our of the way to get in closer. Of course, the doctor didn't like that at all.

"Whoa, wait! Hold on! Let's talk about this first!"

"You think I want to kill Rock of Ages here after all I've done to get the chains off?!" Tony griped. When no one answered he scoffed, "Yeah, that's right! I didn't think so."

Thor and Bruce exchanged worried glances as Tony gripped the collar. He just barely inserted the top of the nozzle into the keyhole. The flame ignited and a dull buzzing came from inside the collar. Nothing happened immediately. Tony stuck his tongue out in concentration as he wiggles the tool inside.

"I think I heard something," Tony pulled his face closer to look in, "Yeah, I think I got it."

The others leaned in eagerly in hopes it will unlock. There was a lot of tension in the room. The only noise other than the torch was Loki's medical monitors- thankfully all calm at the moment.

"Are you sure yo-"

Thor started to ask but was cut off by a loud click from inside the collar. Tony pulled his hand back thinking he unlocked it- he was wrong. The engravings on the metal started to glow and a humming noise could be heard. They looked on anxiously as the sound steadily grew louder.

Tony tilted his head, "I thought I did it, but it-"

A massive surge of electricity buzzed in the collar. It was shocking Loki. The god withered in pain, his back arched and mouth open in a silent scream. The monitors started to go haywire. They blared alarms that echoed throughout the room.

Thor bolted forward and pushed Tony out of the way. The force of his gesture sent him flying into the floor. Thor didn't even bother looking. Instead, he reached over and grabbed the collar with both hands. The electricity immediately surged into Thor's body. The pain of it affected him very little, in fact, it fueled his own body of his thunder powers.

The thunder god's eyes started to glow as sparks shot out at its corners. With one strong pull, he cried out in anger and ripped the collar off. It clattered to the ground and the mangled wreck sparked weakly.

"I thought you said it's **non-conductive**?!" Bruce screamed at Tony, who was laying against the wall dazed.

"Hey! Don't get all pissy at me!" he defended, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't know shit about alien metals!"

"Loki?! Brother?"

Bruce turned to see Thor cupping his brother's shoulders. Loki was not moving, but his face still unconsciously twisted in pain. The doctor immediately came over and scanned the monitors for any critical changes.

"He doesn't seem too bad. You pulled off the collar before any serious damage could be done," he said as he silenced the alarms, "His vitals are relatively normal… well, Loki normal that is."

Bruce didn't wait and started to clean Loki's neck of the blood and grim. It was definitely the worst of all the chain injuries. The skin was a lot more infected and cut deeper into his neck than the others. He could still see that other scar from his apparent slit throat.

Tony groaned as he finally got up off the floor. He was thankful Thor didn't hit him any harder. It knocked the wind out of him, of course, and he's definitely going to feel it tomorrow.

When Tony went back to stand with Bruce and Thor, he passed by the discarded collar and handcuffs. The curiosity of it hit him. These chains were able to subdue Loki. It obviously was quite a feat to do. Tony knew this would be an asset to control him in the future. It was obvious that the god wasn't going anywhere soon. Loki will heal, and with that, grow stronger. These are the only guaranteed thing to contain him. Tony needed to figure out how to get a hold of these without looking suspicious.

"So," Tony nudged the collar with his foot, "What do you plan on doing with these, doc?"

Bruce turned around to see him playing around with the binds curiously. The thought never occurred to him of what they plan on doing with them afterwards.

"Well, I guess I'd like to study them," Bruce said, "Whatever this alien tech is, it seems almost indestructible. We could really use something like this for defense. There's no telling if the Chitauri will return."

"I'll take them to the lab for ya," Tony offered before hesitantly reaching to pick them up. Not sure if the metal was still holding a charge, he lightly taps it. He didn't die, so Tony concluded they're safe. What he didn't expect was the metal weighed a ton.

Once Tony dragged all the pieces off to the lab, the room was silent. The only noise was Loki's machines. Thor looked down at his brother. He looked more comfortable now that the chains were off. He saw Bruce move to the monitors and check Loki's vitals again. Checking the connection of the cords, he then moved to readjust the oxygen mask on the god's face.

"Is my brother doing better?" Thor asked, breaking the silence.

Chewing on his lip a little, Bruce thought over what to say. Loki still was in bad shape. These new, hidden wounds were infected. The doctor was glad he already had him on heavy antibiotics. To say Loki's getter better wouldn't be quite truthful… but Thor desperately pleaded for some type of hope to grasp onto.

"Well, he is breathing better," Bruce decided that was the best he could say.

Thankfully, Thor seemed pleased with it. The god drew a small smile and held his brother's hand in his own.

"Do not worry, brother," Thor whispered, looking longingly at him, "You will be better soon."

Bruce decided to give Thor some privacy with his sleeping sibling. Loki was stable enough right now that the doctor felt comfortable leaving the room. He bid his goodbyes and assured the thunder god he is on call if need be. But as Bruce left the infirmary, he couldn't help but to think about those gruesome chains. What were they for? And who put them on him?

Maybe when Loki wakes, he'll tell…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Next Chapter:** Coming Up Short

Word Count: 5,402

Written On: 10-15-19

Updated On: xxx

Posted On: 11-14-19


	6. Coming Up Short

**Chapter 6: **Coming Up Short

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A/N: Finally got this done after all this time. Sorry for the wait guys. It's been one hell of a few months. HUGE things have been happening for me at both work and home (and note this pandemic mess). All these chapters are half-written. It was just getting around to finishing and editing them that took so long.

Anyways, my apologies again. I'll try to not let that happen in the future.

Continuing, this chapter is longer than I would usually do, but I felt it could not stand alone in two separate chapters.

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IMPORTANT*** This is a very flashback/dream-heavy chapter. So, during those times, since all font will be italicized, **thoughts** will be conveyed with [**Brackets**] around them. It might be a tad confusing at times. Just an FYI.

Warning: this chapter has graphic descriptions of torture.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thor sat at Loki's side the whole morning, holding his hand on his brother's small one. Yesterday, the other Avengers dragged him out of the sickbay. They forced him to shower and eat. The thunderer pleaded the whole time to continue to sit with his brother, fearing that he might wake up while he's gone. He finally relented one Bruce reminded him of JARVIS's presence.

Now back with his brother, Thor was feeling a little more refreshed. Loki never woke up, so that was good. Still using the oxygen mask, at least he looked a little more comfortable now with the breathing tube out. Cords and IVs still stuck onto his body wherever there were no bandages. Yesterday, Bruce removed the chest tubes, deeming that his lungs— though still needed to heal drastically— have re-inflated. The doctor cautioned Thor that still Loki's lungs were in terrible shape and he doesn't know what permanent damage they sustained.

Then Thor noticed Loki had started to seem restless. He could see his eyes darting back and forth under his lids. The sheet ruffled as his legs twitched underneath.

_Night terrors? _Thor thought to himself.

He placed his hand on his brother's cheek. The gesture seemed to calm him. Once the sleeping god looked more relaxed, Thor noticed something off. Loki's cheek felt awfully warm. Being Jotunn, Thor new his brother's skin usually had a cooler touch. The heat was quite unexpected. Not wanting to risk it, Thor asked JARVIS to call for Bruce.

He begged that he was just being paranoid, and it was all in his head.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Loki lost track of the days long ago. It was all an endless blur. The Chitauri haven't come by his cell for a long time. He knew they would come soon. It was only a matter of time. He gave up removing the chains; it was pointless. The constant cycle of trying to remove them, getting shocked, then doing it all again was draining him of precious energy. _

_The hunger pains were consistent. Loki refused anything they gave him. Possibly poisoned, he left the inedible slop in the far corner of the cell. It was tempting, but he wouldn't. Even if he did, with the muzzle his mouth would hinder him greatly. The act of even attempting to eat it will not look very dignified. _

_Hopefully soon, he hoped the hunger pains will go away. What was worse was as the Chitauri beat him, his stomach would sometimes growl loudly. They would laugh and mock him, calling him pathetic and weak. Once they had taken off his gag, grab delicious smelling meat and held it right in his face. Loki was almost drooling at the sight and aroma. The Chitauri never gave it to him, of course. It was only to mock. _

_Loki blinked the thoughts away as he heard the far door of the hallway slam closed. _

_[They're coming...]_

_Struggling to his feet, Loki tried to look a little more pulled together. It was hard to do just in undergarments and chains. He just stood there, waiting for an inevitable beating. Sure, Loki could fight back; he's done it before… unsuccessfully. There were always too many Chitauri in the room at once. Easily overpowered and out of magic, he was helpless. Besides, it only made the future beatings worse. _

_Gnarled hands appeared out of the shadows. They wrapped around the enchanted bars and pulled them open. Loki stood unfazed, ready for anything. _

_[These creatures will not break me.]_

_The head Chitauri came into the cell first. Loki knew it was the leader by its larger size and the deep gash across its face. The scar was given to him by none other than Loki. It was back in the days he would fight them off. In fact, that was the last time he lashed out at them. After the leader sustained that injury, they beat the god in an inch of his life. That's when Loki knew fighting was getting him nowhere. _

_The Chitauri gave the god a mischievous, toothy smile. Loki didn't react. He would give them that pleasure. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bruce quietly walked into the infirmary to see Thor still at his post next to Loki. He was happy to see that at least his friend was able to take a few hours away from his brother to rest. The situation looked calm enough. So, Bruce wondered why then he had called him down.

"JARVIS said you were looking for me?"

Thor turned around to see his friend. A small sigh of relief came with a smile on his face. He was in debt to his healer friend. Thor made sure to express his thanks every chance he gets.

"Thank you for coming, Dr. Banner."

"Of course," Bruce said as he walked up to stand next to Thor at the bedside. He looked down at Loki, "How is he?"

The god's smile faded.

"I'm not sure," he responded, "I was trying to comfort him as it looked like he was having a night terror. It was then I realized he felt warm."

Bruce listened intently to Thor's description. _A fever possibly?_ The doctor decided to also check himself. Here tried to avoid touching Loki as much as possible. Something about him still gave him chills. Bruce, hesitant at first, but reached over the bed and rested the back of his hand on Loki's forehead. Loki didn't waken stir at all to his touch. Sure enough, the skin underneath his hand was quite hot. Any other time he had touched Loki; his skin was shockingly cold. Thor explained that to be from his brother's Jotunn heritage.

Bruce then waited a few seconds before pulling away.

"He is quite warm," he said before pausing in thought, "Let me get something for a more accurate reading."

Back in one of the cabinets by the desk, Bruce retrieved a temporal thermometer. As he walked back, Thor watched him curiously. He had no idea what all the Midgardian devices were. The doctor put the metal end of the device and held it to Loki's temple. A few long seconds later, it emitted a small beeping noise. Bruce pulled it back to look at the screen.

"102*F," he hummed, "Definitely a fever."

Thor looked at his friend, terrified.

"What do we do, Banner?"

Bruce paused for a second to figure out a treatment plan. This could be an infection. Even with all the antibiotics coursing through him, Bruce didn't dismiss that as a possibility. Loki was such a complicated case… and it kept getting harder.

"First things first, we need to cool him down. I'll grab some cold washcloths," he explained as he headed to the linen closet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_How does the __**Prince**__ fair today?" _

_Loki just frowned. He hated their little pet names for him. If only the gag was off, then he could tell them how he really feels. Scanning the area, he could see at least thirty Chitauri waiting outside the cell. Usually, there's no more than ten. _

_This "session" is going to be interesting._

_[They're planning something…]_

"_We have something special for our royal guest," one Chitauri said. _

_[If this is how you treat your "royal" guests, I'd hate to see how you treat your prisoners.]_

"_Is there something you'd like to say, Silvertongue?"_

_Loki tried to scoff through the mask, but he could feel the spikes dig into his tongue. _

_The creatures laughed at his expense. They started to inch closer to him. Loki wanted to back away… to cower, but he couldn't appear weak. Instead, he stood still and let them approach. The Chitauri said nothing more other than mocking whispers. The leader directed one forward. The minion grabbed Loki's main chain and jerked it towards them. The god was able to catch himself from falling but stumbled forward awkwardly. It tugged the chains again— they wanted him to walk. _

_Furious to be led like a dog on a leash, Loki pulled back to resist. It was a bad move as more Chitauri grabbed his chains and, all at once, yanked on it. Loki was swiftly jerked off his feet and landed hard on his stomach. His breath whistled past the gag as it was forced out of his lungs. _

_Ignoring their howling, Loki pushed himself off the floor and dusted himself off. He refused to be pulled so he walked with them at a steady pace. Most of the other Chitauri ran ahead and disappeared out of sight. The leader, however, stayed and lead the way for the god and his other lackeys. _

"_The Chitauri are eager for today. As you can see, many wanted to witness," the head creature spoke smugly. _

_Loki only scrunched his nose and the comment._

_[If they think they're going to witness breaking me, then they are going to be disappointed.]_

_He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, making sure to not trip over the long chains. The god allowed them to escort him down the familiar halls. The red door was coming up in the right. The door he knew all too well. It's grand size and blood-red color mocked him even in his dreams. When they arrived at the door, Loki stopped. He expected them to open it. The Chitauri instead tugged on his chains, causing him to stumble again. They wanted him to walk past the door. _

_The head Chitauri looked back to see the god still eyeing the red door as they passed. _

"_Like I said, little prince," the creature reiterated, "Today we have something special planned."_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bruce came back with a large bowl of ice water and a handful of washcloths. Thor helped him pull up a rolling side table to put all the supplies on. Together, as instructed by Bruce, they submerged the towels in the cold water and wrung them out.

"Is it okay to put them over the bandages?" Thor hesitated to lay any of the wet washcloths to the fact that eighty percent of Loki's body was wrapped in white dressings.

"I'd prefer not to, but we don't have a choice," Bruce replied, already draping some over Loki's arms, "Just not on his chest."

Bruce and Thor worked quickly to get as many damp towels on Loki's upper body as possible. While Thor placed his last one on his brother's forehead, Bruce pulled down the sheets and draped more over his legs.

"As soon as the towels start to warm up, we need to re-wet them," Bruce instructed, "In a half an hour I'll check his temperature again."

Thor just nodded and continued his work.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_The red door was now out of sight and the group continued down new and unfamiliar passages. They passed many other halls and small doors but continued forward. Loki suspected they walked for at least ten minutes past the red door. _

_His feet were aching him. In the last session, they burned the soles of his feet by making him stand on hot coals. Loki was proud to say he never cried out or shown any indicator of pain through it. Of course, it hurt like Hel. His feet now blacked and cracked now had gravel and dirt stabbing the bottoms of them. He bit the gag harder to suppress any sounds indicating he was in pain. _

_The dimly lit hallways finally yielded a sign— another door. Its size was just as grand; almost identical even. The only difference was instead of a deep red, this door was a faded gold. _

_[The dimwitted creatures must learn proper interior design.]_

_Loki stopped along with them and waited while some opened the door. There he saw where all the Chitauri had gone to. They surrounded the perimeter of the moderately sized room. Like the red-doored room, the inside was the same color as the door. It was dimly lit by hanging torches and reeked of death and decay. _

_[How inviting…]_

_The Chitauri handling his chains tugged him into the room. The sea of creatures parted to reveal an open area. In the center, surrounded by the Chitauri, was a flat, weathered slab of stone. It was nothing special; no embellishments, no instruments, just a plain stone surface. _

_Loki's eyes narrowed as he was led to the center, just a few feet from the table. The creatures started to snarl and growl eagerly at the god's arrival. Loki didn't like where this was going. _

_The leader pointed to two Chitauri in the crowd and gestured to Loki. They must have known what to do because no words were said. As they approached, the ones holding his chains seemed to tighten their grip. One came up behind and the other stayed in front. They reached for his face. Loki tried to dodge it. His chains stayed taught and gave him no room to avoid the hands. To his surprise, each grasped the front and back of the muzzle and pulled it off. The spiked bit was finally removed from his mouth. Loki ran his tongue along his dried, crack lips. It tasted of old blood and dirt. He gave no care as he spat the blood at the feet of the lead Chitauri. _

"_Still as fiery as ever, I see," the leader mused. _

_Loki licked the residing blood off his lips. He stared at the Chitauri with piercing green eyes. _

"_You're going to regret ever putting that on me."_

_His threat just caused the creatures to laugh. _

"_Says the god who's stripped of his armor!" one barked. _

"_And bound and gagged!" another chimed in. _

_Loki pulled against the chains. He wasn't going to stand there and be mocked. He was a god and these dull creatures should be bowing down to him. Loki struggled against the Chitauri's hold. They held him still as the leader came to stand in front of Loki. The monster towered over the god, amused by their height difference. _

"_You see, little prince," the Chitauri said, "We know all about you. Thanos has told us all about your sad, little life. A cast out runt left to die, only to be pardoned by the enemy and raised in a life of lies. I can see why your mind is so fragile."_

"_How about you save me your pity and humor me with whatever plans you have," Loki growled. _

"_Very well. Thanos wanted us to create something special for you. We even got assistance from dark elves to make it happen. The Master wants you broken for your failure on Midgard… and we know it is your pride that is your greatest weakness."_

_The leader signaled the Chitauri holding Loki to pull him towards the table. He followed along behind them, still speaking. _

"_You hold yourself so tall for a Jotunn runt, yet you still believe you tower even over the small Midgardian creatures."_

_Loki didn't have time to react before he was slammed against the stone slab— stomach first. He made no noise other than his breath escaping out. _

"_Thanos believes such a small, frail Jotunn should not feel such grandeur. As so, the dark elves have created something to cure that god-complex you hold onto so tightly."_

_Loki tried to fight back, but too many hands pushed him down. His face was grated into the stone table. They used his own chains and wrapped them around the slab. Now tied face down, he was forced to twist his head to the side to try to look at his captors. The position was extremely uncomfortable. The collar pushed into his neck as he was forced down, making it harder to breathe._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bruce got out the thermometer again.

"Alright, let's see if the cold compresses helped at all."

He lightly touched the device to Loki's temple and waited a few seconds. When the timer went off, Bruce studied the results.

"Well, he looks like he's gone down a degree. It's not much, but I'll take it."

Thor's brow wrinkled at the results. To him, Loki's temperature wasn't going down fast enough. He already tried to convince the doctor to let him hold Loki in an ice bath, but Bruce stated that that would do more harm than good. He instead swapped out the room-temperature saline drip for a colder one.

Staying at his brother's side, Thor continued his position of re-wetting the towels. As he moistened the one on his forehead, he could help but notice Loki's face looked a little pained. The oxygen mask over his face didn't hide the fact Loki's breath was unusually fast.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_The main Chitauri rounded the table for Loki to see him. When the others finished tying the god down, another set of them came up with a small box adorned with silver embellishments. The leader smiled wryly as he took it, making sure Loki could see the whole exchange. It carefully opened the box. The lid shielded its contents from Loki's view. The god frowned and tried to see past. It was painstakingly long before the Chitauri picked it up. It wasn't until then could he see the object the creature held up to adore. _

_It was just a dagger, much like the ones Loki was able to summon with his magic. The only difference was that the blade wasn't a polished metal, but black. It has an odd, iridescent shine to it that made it look alive. Bits of purple swirled through its surface as Loki looked on. _

"_The Dark Elves have outdone themselves with this one," the leader mused. _

_It handed the box off back to his minions before proceeding closer to the table. Loki never took his eyes off the dagger. They've used plenty of daggers and knives on him before in sessions. Loki could sense something different about it. Dark energy seemed to plume off of it as it moved. Clearly, this was no ordinary blade. _

"_What do you think, little one?" the Chitauri held it closer to Loki's face, "Magnificent, isn't it?"_

_Loki scoffed, "If you are referring to that glorified letter opener you hold? I'm afraid I've seen better."_

_The creature didn't seem amused by Loki's jab. Narrowing its eyes, it gripped the daggers handle tightly in its claws. As the leader looked around the room, the others roared, eager to start. _

"_The others are getting restless," it said, "Let us begin."_

_[By all means…]_

_Loki didn't want to say it out loud. Whatever it was, was already going it hurt. He'd rather not make things any worse than he already has; not that's he's worried. Loki knew he could take the pain. He's done this hundreds of times before at the hands of the Chitauri. This will be no different. _

_The monster repositioned the dagger in his hand as it eyed Loki. Placing one hand on the slab, the leader leaned over it. Scanning the god's bare back, the Chitauri was obvious thinking through something. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bruce dialed up the oxygen for Loki. He seemed out of breath, almost anxious in a way. The doctor boiled it down to whatever dream Loki was having.

"How is this a good sign?!" Thor stood up and almost screamed when Banner stated that.

"Calm down," Bruce took a step back, "I meant that the fact that he's having dreams is a good sign… in a sense. That means his body is more conscious."

Thor sat back down, embarrassed of his outburst. His brother was fighting off enough. He didn't need a dream to be one of them. Thor knew very well since childhood that Loki's dreams have never been pleasant. Even just as a small boy, Loki comes crying to him in the middle of the night from the night terrors. Their parent's chambers were too far down the Royal Halls for Loki to run to compared to Thor's room next door. It wasn't until Loki turned ten that he stopped coming for thor for comfort in the middle of the night. The dreams were still there. Thor knew it. It wasn't uncommon to hear Loki's screams in the hallways. As much comfort as he could give his little brother, Thor was slowly being pushed away. Never once since the first time Loki came running in did he ever tell him what his dreams were about.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_The leader scanned over Loki as it clutches the dagger. Its gnarled hands ran down the god's spine. It was easy to count every invertebrate on his emaciated body. _

_[Just get on with it.]_

_As if the Chitauri could hear Loki's thoughts, the dagger was lifted up, then came swiftly down. The blade sunk into his right shoulder with ease. The force wasn't strong, but it went in deep, and only stopped when it hit the bone of his shoulder blade. _

_Loki gave no response other than biting the inside of his cheek to try to divert the pain. The pain was bad, but not intolerable. This wasn't the first, and obviously, won't be the last stab wound he will receive from the Chitauri._

_The lead Chitauri yanked the blade out quickly and stood back. Loki could feel a steady trail of blood drip down and pool in the small of his back. Again, it was a tolerable pain. _

_After a minute of silence with the Chitauri, Loki grew confused about their motives. Why would they only stab him once then back off? How was this punishment so special to pull in such a large crowd of Chitauri to watch? It was obvious to him it was something about that blade. _

_The answer came gradually as the stab wound started to grow warmer. Initially, it felt like he was standing by a warm fire— not too unpleasant. When Loki attempted to speak up, the heat of the wound increased tenfold. Being caught off-guard, he didn't have time to hold back his sharp gasp. It felt like they had poured molten lava into his open wound. It seeped deep into his body and felt the heat course through his veins. Loki kept having to swallow back the scream that continued to creep up his throat. _

_While distracted by the pain, Loki didn't notice the Chitauri aim the blade again; and most certainly didn't expect to, all of the sudden, feel another stab to his flank. _

_This time, Loki did cry out of surprise more than pain. _

"_Not so smug now, are we?" the leader mocked as he clutched the blood-soaked knife. _

_The inside of Loki's cheek was bleeding from biting down so hard to suppress any further screams. The motion obviously wasn't very effective. _

"_Shall we finish off today's session then?" the head Chitauri leaned over to whisper in Loki's ear. _

_[Norns, just finish me now…]_

_When the god didn't respond to the question, it decided to proceed with the plans. The creature raised the knife over its head dramatically. Other Chitauri screamed and yelled in excitement. The sounds echoed loudly through the chamber making it obvious that hundreds of the creatures waited for more of his blood to spill. _

_The dagger drove down with blinding speed. It came to hit its intended target— Loki's spine. The cry Loki let off was nothing short of an ungodly, ear-piercing scream. The metal had wedged itself between two vertebrae in the gods mid-back. The protective cushion between both bones disintegrated in contact. _

_Solidly impaled in him, the Chitauri gripped the handle harder and twisted. The motion stretched the gap between both vertebrae. It got another agonizing cry from Loki. The knife twisted even more and caused a sickening crunch. The lower half of his body immediately went numb as his spine severed. _

_At this point, Loki is close to blacking out. Even though half of him being numb, the pain never stopped in the part that wasn't. That molten-hot pain in his shoulder was still there. Loki couldn't tell at this point whether or not he was screaming anymore; the blood pounding in his ears was deafening. _

_Chitauri all around roared and cheered at the god's expense. Never has Loki ever shown fear and pain like this before. He had been strong, feelings almost impenetrable… but now he laid, shackled to a stone slab. _

_Loki's voice was raw from his constant screaming. The knife was still in his back, twisted in a way so it's still prying his spine apart. If he had anything in his stomach, he would have vomited from the pain by now. Everything started going dark. He knew he was going to pass out soon. Loki was actually relieved. The pain would be gone soon._

_The screams of the creatures started to fade, and his vision tunneled. As he was about to accept the blissful darkness, a new white, hot pain coursed through his body; it robbed him from the darkness. Loki visioned cleared and the ear-piercing screeches of the Chitauri returned. _

_Loki felt something grab a fistful off his hair and yank his head back. He immediately gasped, but Loki turned it into a snarl. His neck strained to stretch so much that the collar now choking him. _

_It was the head of Chitauri. _

"_You can't escape the pain that easy, little Prince," the creature whispered in Loki's ear. He could smell its rancid breath as it assaulted his face. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Jarvis, can you do a full scan of Loki, please," Bruce said, "Any medical reports you can make. I need the whole nine yards."

—_Certainly. Just give me a few minutes to complete.—_

The doctor noticed Thor's concerned gaze.

"Why did you not use this when my brother first came?" he asked.

"I wished I could have used it sooner," Bruce said, "But I was worried about the metal chains on him. The scans we use don't end well when exposed to metal. I didn't want to risk the machine breaking and, possibly, hurting Loki."

Thor nodded in understatement. He, himself, didn't know what type of metal it was or if any more spells were laced in the shackles and chains.

"The scans won't just give us information on Loki's injuries, but it might give us insight on what happened to him," Bruce added before pausing, "I'm especially curious about how he has gotten so small…"

It was the truth. Bruce was dumbfounded to how a six-foot-four man could now be about four-foot-eight. Not only that, but he even looks younger. Maybe it was just his size, but maybe whatever did this made him younger too? Anything was a possibility.

It was a painstakingly long ten minutes before they heard JARVIS's voice again.

—_Dr. Banner, the results are ready. However, I had to transfer the data down to Master Stark's lab. The equipment down there is more suitable to show the findings.—_

"Oh… okay," Bruce turned to Thor, "I guess I need to go over to the lab then. I'll be right back."

Bruce barely even turned to face the door before Thor stood up.

"Wait, Banner!"

He turned back around and saw his friend's frantic face.

"What… what if Loki needs something while you are away?" Thor started to ramble on about how he doesn't know anything about Midgardian machines.

"Thor, calm down," Bruce held up his hands to signal him to chill out, "I'll just be a few floors down. Remember, JARVIS monitors Loki's vitals and will alert me to any changes."

The god sat back down but was still nervous to see him leave.

"… alright."

"Good. I'll be back soon," Bruce said and headed towards the door, "Just keep the towels cold while I'm gone.

Thor nodded and watched the doctor leave without further protests. It left the room oddly quiet. The only noise in the room was the machines hooked up to Loki.

Thor didn't know how long he would have to wait for Bruce to return. He accepted that he'll just have to wait here anxiously. Now situated, he continued his task of tending to his brother's fever.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Loki was stabbed several more times before it finally stopped. He laid, still stomach down, and tried to catch his breath. Blood pooled down the side of his mouth as his cheeks and tongue were chewed raw in an attempt to stifle his screams. It failed as his voice was destroyed from yelling. It would take weeks for his vocal cords to heal; like it mattered, the muzzle would eventually be put on again anyway. _

_He passed out at one point, but he didn't know for how long. Loki was only half-conscious when they started to unchain him from the slab. _

"_Dark elf magic is impressive indeed." _

_Loki heard the leader say through his ringing ears. _

"_This was a very good session today, little Prince," it continued, "The Chitauri loved how much you screamed out and withered in pain."_

_Loki has no strength to make a snarky remark back. He gave in to them dragging him off the table and letting him fall bonelessly onto the cold, unforgiving floor. They laughed only at his expense. One of the creatures that untied him kicked Loki in the stomach. It resulted in Loki coughing up a string of bloody spit. _

"_Get up!" The Chitauri laughed as it struck him again. _

_But Loki couldn't. _

_He was paralyzed from the waist down from that dagger. Even then, the rest of him was too drained to try to even attempt to move. Everything still burned terribly. He felt the pain sweeping into his very bones. In his mind, Loki begged they would just stop and drag him back to his cell already. _

_The Chitauri kicked him again, but this time, the leader spoke up. _

"_You've had your fun! I don't want our guest to be out of commission too long. We have plenty more planned for him."_

_[It's over.] Loki thought. He made it through another session. It may not have been his best. He couldn't hold back the screams this time. However, Loki mentally thanked the Norns that he was able to hold back tears. To have tears roll down his cheeks would be the final straw. Then, Loki would consider himself broken. However, he didn't this time… and would be damned if he ever did. Loki was still strong. _

_Two new Chitauri grabbed each of Loki's arms and pulled him from his thoughts. They held him up as he dangled helplessly. Even as his visioned tunneled, he couldn't help but notice the aliens seemed bigger. But he couldn't hold onto consciousness long enough to think anymore about it. _

_Before they could even start dragging him, Loki blacked out. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bruce and Steve stood outside the sickbay doors. They were both hesitant to go in and give the news.

"Thank you again for doing this with me, Steve," Bruce repeated over and over to his friend as he fidgeted with his own hands in anxiety, "I'm not quite sure how this is going to roll over, so I'm nervous to do it alone."

Steve put a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder. As worried as he was in how Thor will take the news, he was more concerned for Bruce. After the doctor had looked at the results down in Tony's lab, he almost "Hulked-out". If it wasn't for Steve and Tony running in to calm him down, things might have ended differently.

The main reason it took so long to get back up to the infirmary wasn't from trying to decipher the results, but too allow Bruce to calm down. It was that and then collectively trying to figure out how to word all of this to Thor.

"As much as I agree with you on breaking the news," Steve replied, not taking his hand off Bruce's shoulder, "I'm more worried about you."

Rogers looked intensely at the exhausted, sleep-deprived man next to him before continuing.

"You've been putting yourself under a lot of pressure. I know being a doctor is important to you, but your health comes first; not Loki's… yours."

Bruce didn't verbally agree but averted his eyes and let his shoulders sag a little. In some respects, he knew that was true… but didn't want to admit it. His life the past few weeks has only been about this so-called, "God of Mischief". Teetering between life and death, Bruce was the only thing that kept Loki from falling off the deep end. Of course, there's Thor; without the older god's help, Bruce knew would have had a meltdown by now.

As far as the other two Avengers… they kept their distance. Banner didn't inherently blame them but, at the same time, still felt hurt they didn't reach out to him to help. Steve, at least, responded when Bruce reached out to him in particular. However, it was painfully obvious he did it for mostly peace of mind for Bruce and Thor… not much for Loki.

Bruce was pulled from his thoughts by Steve taking his hand off his shoulder. He looked back up at the Captain's concerned, blue eyes. They were almost identical to the look Thor always gave him whenever he came to help Loki.

"Are you ready?" Steve asked.

Bruce took a deep breath and nodded softly.

"As ready as I'll ever be…"

Bruce walked first into the infirmary and Steve followed close behind. Thor was exactly how Bruce had left him. The only difference was, was that most of the washcloths that were once covering Loki, were pulled off and replaced with a blanket. The only one that remained was one carefully folded and rested on the younger god's forehead.

Bruce could visibly see Thor's shoulders tense up once he heard their footsteps. The god turned around to his friends.

"JARVIS said Loki's temperature is gone… for now. But he recommended I still leave one on him just in case," he explained nervously, completely forgetting to even greet them.

Bruce forced a smile, "That's good to hear."

Both Bruce and Steve pulled over chairs to put by Thor's. It was decided, that if everyone was sitting, it would make Thor feel a little less nervous with the casualness of it.

—Or so they thought.

The thunder good immediately saw through their façade. They acted too calm and collected. His face was plastered with fear as he went to stand up.

"What did you find?!" Thor said, his voice unnaturally scared.

Bruce immediately gestured him to sit back down. The last thing they needed was the god to freak out on them. It doesn't help that his sick brother is right behind him.

Thor, though, did sit back down on Bruce's command; however, he sat on the edge of the seat.

"I'm going to start with that Loki is not in any immediate danger and is recovering… be it an incredibly slow pace compared to his assumed usual," Bruce started. He wanted to get the most of Thor's worries aside before giving him the bad news.

Steve has still yet to say anything. He didn't know exactly to add to the conversation. It seemed like a doctor/patient kind of conversation. So, he decided to stay quiet and just be moral support.

Thor's shoulders to relax a fraction of an inch after he took a deep breath.

"That is good," he said before looking up with a new fear in his eyes, "But I know there is more. How does my brother fair long term?"

Thor was nowhere near stupid… naïve sometimes, but not stupid. He knew there was more, and Bruce wasn't going to walk around it any longer.

"The X-rays and scans were very telling," he said, "They showed a long list of extensive injuries. The damage to his ribs of course, but we already knew of that."

"What are all the injuries?" Thor asked nervously. He wanted to hear it all… everything.

Bruce looked at Thor and mentally sighed. He had his clipboard with him and had all his notes. He had hoped Thor wouldn't ask that question purely on how painful it would be to see the thunder god's heart break to know what had happened to his brother.

"Well…" the doctor paused as he flipped through the thick stack of notes clipped to the board, "Honestly, Loki's pretty much has had every injury possible. It's… all just been healed over the years. I can tell that from the extensive amount of internal scarring and fractures. One of the current injuries I'm worried about is his lungs. They'll never return to one-hundred percent from with the results I'm getting from them. Here still has old blood coating the inside of his lungs from the punctures. He will no doubt have long-term breathing problems from an injury to this extent. Adding to that are few fractured bones; most are healed, but crudely. I don't know how that will affect his walking. Then there's that branding on his chest. It will leave a bad scar. I'm worried scar tissue might affect his range of motion in his upper body. We don't need any more things to be constricting his chest…"

Bruce continued to rattle off an overly abundant amount of information due to anxiety.

"His spine, however, is—"

"What is wrong with his spine?" Thor interrupted nervously. As if hearing his brother's lungs were bad enough, Thor knows well that spinal injuries can be fatal.

"Thor, he's…" Bruce started, but had to swallow the lump in his throat, "He's _missing_ vertebrae."

"M-missing?" Thor repeated back in question, his face grew pale.

"And his bones… his whole skeleton for that matter… it's all been _shortened_."

"What?!" Thor cried out in shock, "How in the Nine Realms could that possibly be?"

"From the fragments and fractures of some areas," Bruce felt like as he was shaking as he explained all of this "I'd say they were physically, and somehow **supernaturally**, removed. Unfortunately, how this happened to Loki is out of my medical knowledge."

"I'd say Loki has lost well over a foot in height," Bruce gesture lightly to the sleeping god, "If what you said it true, and Loki originally was around 6'4… now I've barely clocked him in at 4'8. I don't know If his age was affected or not. It's hard to tell because he just is so much smaller."

Thor took a minute to look back at Loki. Could he be younger? It was indeed hard to tell. His face was a mess of bruises and bandages. His gaunt features didn't help either.

Bruce cleared his throat politely to gain back Thor's attention.

"Whoever did this to him had experience. It's remarkably terrifying that this is even possible,"

"Are you telling me my brother has been tortured…?" Thor's voice became softer with those words.

"That was already kind of confirmed on his arrival," Bruce stated. He feels Thor is still in denial over this fact, "Now this, pretty much solidifies it."

"But there are still no clues on **where** it happened and **who** did it?" Thor asked, almost pleading for an answer.

The doctor shook his head apologetically.

"How will this affect him in the future?" Thor questioned. He knew Loki will eventually wake up if he continues to improve.

Bruce has to pause before answering. The answer wasn't that simple.

"Well, it's hard to say. So far Loki is healing at a painfully slow process. We won't know the full story until he wakes up. Pain wise? I wouldn't be surprised if when he wakes up it hurts. That's why I got all the pain medications hooked up to him now."

Bruce took a deep breath and rested his forearms into his knees. He clapped his hands together and let out the held breath. Bruce needed to remind himself to stay calm and level-headed.

"If you want me to be honest… about what I'm worried about… it's his mental health," he looked a little more concerned at Thor.

Thor furrowed his brow, "I'm sorry? I do not understand?"

"Someone doesn't go through this kind of torture without coming out messed up," Bruce started to disgust with his hands, "No offense Thor, I'd say from my past experiences with Loki… I'd say he wasn't the most stable person to begin with."

Thor looked away. He knew that. He knew Loki was consumed with some madness of the mind. Thor's thoughts flashed back to the Bifrost. The time when Loki dangled from it by Gungnir. The time he… let go."

Bruce continued to talk even though Thor was looking away.

"We're talking years of torture here, Thor."

"It may not be," Thor murmured.

Both Bruce and Steve flinched to Thor's quiet comment. The god thought of something.

"Wait… what do you mean? It might no be what?" Bruce asked. His comment had both him and Steve— who he almost forgot was there— in the edge of their seat.

"If Loki appeared in Stark's lab out of a portal… that means he came from space," Thor turned to both men and explained. His voice had an eerie darkness to it, "You know as well as I do, Dr. Banner, that time works differently in space."

"So, are you trying to say it could have been longer?!" Steve Finally spoke up.

"Aye," Thor sighed heavily, "Midgardian time is very slow compared to many other places universe; Asgard, for example. It could very well possibly be that my brother has been there for over five hundred years. That is being modest."

"Five hundred years?!" Steve and Bruce blurted out at the same time.

Thor nodded as he looked s as though he's about to cry. He turned back to his brother and stayed painfully silent.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_After that "session", it was almost two years before Loki woke up again. To his surprise, he wasn't paralyzed anymore. He stretched his legs and wiggles his toes to double-check. His body had slowly healed through the years until he was able to regain consciousness. _

_The chains and gag were still on, however. When Loki finally became more aware of his surroundings, he stood up. He noticed the undergarments he wore immediately fell to his ankles. Loki quickly pulled them back up, flustered and confused. The garment was substantially bigger. Loki, having no clue what was happening but ended up having to knot them to keep it up. _

_He was still in the cell. Even after so many years, the events of the last session were fresh in his mind. The very thought of that knife made him shutter. _

_The cell and halls outside were quiet. Loki knew he was alone… for now. He wanted to double-check to make sure no spies were holding out of sight. The second he gripped the bars of the door to look out, he knew something was off. The already thick cell bars were now even thicker. In fact, the whole door looked taller. Loki started to think that he may be in a new cell. _

_The god turned back around to look at the cave. After being in this place for possible centuries, Loki knew that his original one has distinct features. A big one was a pointed rock that was on the ceiling. It was right in the center of the room and Loki always hit his head on it. So, he quickly scanned the ceiling for that landmark. _

_And there it was. The same spot in the middle. Loki's heart started to pound as he walked to it. _

_Loki stood right under it in pure shock of its distance between him. He tried to jump up and touch it but failed to even brush it with his fingertips. Loki was close to hyperventilating. He looked down at himself. His body was completely proportional; he looked no different. _

_Then why is everything else so big?_

_[W-what… What did they do to me?!]_

_Words of the head Chitauri played out in his head. The realization came crashing down on him like a punch. _

—"_Thanos believes such a small, frail Jotunn should not feel such grandeur. As so, I believe the dark elves have created something to cure that god-complex you hold onto so tightly."—_

_They did something… something to him to make him smaller. Yes, Loki was a runt to Jotunn standards. Also, he is not very tall in Asgard standards too. He is a bit taller than the average Asgardian women However, Loki was proud to be taller than most mortals. _

_But now…now he was no taller than a child._

_The Chitauri took another strand of dignity away from him that day. _

_Loki swore it would be the last time. He wished he could be certain… _

_but only time would tell. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: In this story, Loki's official height is now 4'8! So, he's a teeny-tiny boi!

Other heights: Thor (6'5), Steve (6'2), Bruce (5'11), Tony (6'1), Clint (6'0), Natasha (5'7)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Next Chapter:** The Not-So-Great Escape

Word Count: 7,631

Written On: 10-2-19

Updated On: 4-7-20

Posted On: 4-7-20


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